


All That You Have

by BlackKyber



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Christmas, Domestic Fluff, Domestic Kylux, Family Feels, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Gay Male Character, I Ship It, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Kylux - Freeform, Love, M/M, Marriage, One True Pairing, Romantic Fluff, Same-Sex Marriage, Sibling Bonding, Soft Kylux, Star Wars - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:20:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 36,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23975149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackKyber/pseuds/BlackKyber
Summary: Ben Solo and his boyfriend, Armitage Hux, have been together for a what feels like a lifetime. And both of them, in their own ways, have been doing some serious thinking about what could possibly be coming up on the horizon for them.But whatever comes their way, they’re confident that they can stand up to anything that life throws at them, together ...... even the things that aren’t quite so pleasant.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo
Comments: 31
Kudos: 49





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is Part 2 of my story “Do You Like Irish Food?”, focusing on the challenges and triumphs Ben and Hux face as their relationship evolves. Chapters to come slowly. Enjoy 😊

“So there I was, 20 below and the temperature dropping faster every second. Couldn’t feel a single part of my body. You know it’s strange, the thoughts that you have when you believe you’re going to die. I remember my most prominent thought was that the butcher back at home gave me a cut of veal that was way too much fat for the amount he charged me.”

Hux chuckled and shook his head. “Seriously? That was your ‘last thought’?”

“Sad but true. It just kept playing in a loop over and over in my head. Anyway at this point, I’m positive that I’m done for. I’d heard before that when the worst of hypothermia sets in, it makes a person feel warm. And let me tell you, I was looking forward to that warmth, whether it was Death himself wrapping me in that blanket or not.”

“Then what?”, Rey asked, her eyes fascinated.

“So I’m about to lay down and pile snow over me, like a cover. Kinda speed up the process a little. Suddenly I look up and I see my old grade-school teacher, Mr. Kenobi, standing at the entrance of the cave. Clear as day, standing there wearing that old, baggy tan sweater of his. Never mind that it’s 7 o’clock on a Sunday evening in Colorado and never mind that Mr. Kenobi had been dead for quite some time. I don’t care what anyone says, I wasn’t crazy, I wasn’t hallucinating, he was THERE.”

“Why would a ghost, of all the places that he could possibly be at or go to, choose to come and see YOU?”, Ben asked, skeptically. He had heard this story a million and one times in his life, and each time didn’t make it any easier for him to believe. 

“I don’t know, Benny. Who knows why things happen when they do, or the WAY they do? It’s one of the mysteries of life. But anyway, he’s standing there, kinda looking at me, almost like ... like he’s disappointed in me, or something. And then he spoke, and even with the wind and snow shrieking behind him, I could hear him clear as a bell. He said, “‘Don’t give it up now, Skywalker. It’s just the beginning.’”

Hux asked, “The beginning of what?”

“I’ve had some time to think about it, and the answer I’m most comfortable with is, well, life. I think he was trying to say that I was still young, and my life was still at its beginnings. So, as I’m looking at him, he fades out. Doesn’t outright disappear, just fades, like an image slowly flickering out. And then I look up again and out of no where, Han is there. I guess I was in pretty bad shape by then because he’s shaking me, shouting at me, slapping my face, but I don’t feel or hear anything. One second I close my eyes, and the next I wake up in a bright white room. My arms and legs hurting like holy hell. I swear, to this day, I have no godly clue HOW he managed to get me up and out of that cave, in the dark, in the freezing cold, and back to the shelter, _by himself_. None whatsoever.”

Here he paused and took a long sip of his tea, prolonging the dramatics of the story, before saying, with a grin, 

“And that, my dear children, is why I don’t ever recommend going climbing in the Rockies, no matter what your drunk friends tell you.”

A pause, and then Rey and Hux burst out laughing. Ben just smiled and rolled his eyes, getting up to make more tea.

Last week, when his uncle Luke had contacted him out of the blue, Ben had been surprised. He hadn’t seen or spoken to the older man since his mother’s funeral. Luke had always been a bit of a loner, keeping to himself and showing up sporadically throughout Ben’s life. Bens mother had called him an ‘eccentric type’, but Ben had always just thought of him as a bit of a weirdo.

Not that he didn’t love his uncle.  
But still.  
Definitely a weirdo.

And so much had changed, since they’d last seen one another; with Ben moving, going back to school, being in a relationship, and finding his sister —

When Luke had shown up at the apartment, his arms wide for a hug, he had been flabbergasted to see Rey sitting on the couch. This was the first Ben and Hux had seen Rey in a while; she had gone off to school in August, and was now home for her winter break. Ben had decided to surprise Luke; he had told him in-depth about Hux, but nothing about how he and Rey had connected. While Rey wasn’t technically Luke’s niece, Luke, having been keeping Han up to date on Ben for all those years, had of course heard a plethora of things about Han’s only daughter for a long time.

“Your dad always told me so much about you, young lady,” Luke had said, gently hugging her. “I’m so glad that you and your brother are finally together!”

Meeting Hux was another positive experience. 

“So you’re Armitage?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What’s your secret?”

“Pardon?”

“Your secret. What it is? Because Ben ,” he said, gesturing to his nephew, “Is SMILING. He never smiled, even as a kid. And the way he talked about you on the phone, it was like he was referring to God himself.”

Ben and Hux both blushed, and Hux answered, “No secret, Mr. Skywalker. I just try and keep him a happy as he keeps me.”

“Luke. Not Mr. Skywalker. Now, Ben also told me you’re a masterful chef, and, judging by the heavenly aroma that’s circling my head, he wasn’t lying. So when’s dinner?”, he asked, teasing; and everybody broke into laughter.

The meal (which had been roasted Chilean sea bass and scallops, with parmesan-garlic mashed potatoes and honey-roasted carrots and peppers) was a great one, with everybody talking and catching each other up on what they’d been doing. Ben found out that Luke was now retired from his job as a teacher, and spent his time volunteering at various charities and soup kitchens.

“It’s so important, to give back,” Luke said, helping himself to another piece of the succulent fish. “Really makes you appreciate all the things that you have.”

After dinner, the group sat around the living room with coffee, tea, and cookies, and Luke regaled them with story after story about his youth. Lots of the stories involved Han, as the two had been friends (and getting into trouble together) since they were teenagers.

But Ben was more an observer than a speaker, preferring to sit back and listen to everyone. In a way, this reminded him a bit of the old days, at home. Way back when he was a small child, being allowed to sit up late and listen to his mother, father, and uncle sit around and tell stories.

Before long, Rey reluctantly announced that she should probably go, before it got too late to drive home. She hugged everybody goodbye, and Hux walked her out to her car.

While Hux was gone, Luke said to Ben, cautiously,

“You know, it’s interesting. I would have had no idea that you were open to dating men.”

“A long time ago, I probably would have said that, too. But I’ve come to realize lately that a lot of factors go into who you love and why you love them. Male or female, Hux is literally everything that I want in a partner.”

“Well, from what little I’ve been around him, I’d have to agree with you, Ben. He’s really a lovable young man. And his cooking ... how are you not fat yet?? I feel like I gained 10 pounds just from this meal alone!”

“Give it a couple more years, uncle, and I’ll probably have to be rolled through the door,” Ben said, to which they both laughed.

Hux came back, and Luke stood up as well, saying it was ‘time for an old man to get himself to bed.’

“Benjamin, Hux, thank you for your hospitality,” Luke said, his arms around Ben. “You’ve made my belly very happy.”

“You know you can come over whenever you want, right?”, Ben asked, when Luke let him go. “You don’t have to always be a stranger. Show up more, CALL more. Me and you, we’re the last left of the Skywalker side of the family.”

Luke nodded. “I know, kid. I’ll try; but it’s hard teaching an old nomadic hippie new tricks.”

“So long as you’re wandering over here for a meal, and not into the Rocky Mountains, you should be fine,” Hux said, extending his hand. Luke ignored the hand and gave Hux a firm hug.

“It was so nice to meet you, son. And seriously, whatever magic you’re working on Ben, keep it up. I had no idea his teeth were so straight and white when he smiled, or that he laughed so deep.”

When Luke was gone, Ben moved quietly, thoughtfully around the living room, picking up the drink cups and snacks.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah. It’s just ... you know Luke was my mom’s twin brother. They’re so much alike, and their mannerisms, and the things they say — I’ve missed him, but God it’s hard to be around him and not think of my mother.”

He finished putting the cups in the dishwasher, and when he turned around, Hux was behind him, pulling him into his arms.

“I know that’s an incredibly stupid thing to think,” Ben said, as Hux patted his back. “It’s just ... I don’t know.”

“It’s not stupid. And I’m so glad I got to meet him, Ben. If he really is a lot like your mom, then a little part of me feels like I met your mom today, too.”

Ben smiled and nodded, separating himself from Hux’s arms. “Well, not quite. Mom was way prettier. And she definitely didn’t chew with her mouth open like Luke does.”

Hux laughed at that. “Yeah, I noticed that. Well it’s not the worst trait in the world.”

“I’m glad you think so, because I just might start doing it. Eating looks so much more fun that way, don’t you think?”

“No. And for saying such a disturbing thing, I think you should be the one to scrub out this fish pan.”

Ben rolled up his sleeves and stepped up to the sink. “Your wish is my command,” he said, turning on the water.

—

A few days later, mid-morning, and Ben and Hux were lounging in their room, watching last night’s recorded episode of Hell’s Kitchen on the DVR. Today was a good day; Hux was off from both work and school, and Ben was off of work tonight. He had one class, but it didn’t start until 2 that afternoon, and Ben was waffling around the idea of just skipping it altogether, to stay home with Hux.

While cooking competition shows weren’t really Ben’s cup of tea, he had to admit that Hux’s cuteness while watching was hard to resist. Cuter still when one added in that he wore his glasses instead of his contacts, and he kept a little green notebook by his side that he’d scribble in when one of the chefs made something that he wanted to try making himself.

“Do you think Gordon Ramsay is like that in real life?”, Ben asked, watching as the blonde verbally obliterated one of the chefs for overcooking a plate of chicken.

“Doubt it. But the yelling and the meltdowns makes for really good tv.”

Here he closed his notebook, and said, “Speaking of Gordon Ramsay, though, I was thinking that I’d try making his beef wellington for our Christmas dinner this year, instead of like, ham or chicken. What do you think?”

“I think that beef wellington sounds delicious, BUT I also think that you cook for every major holiday, and you deserve a break. Why don’t you let me take you out to eat that day?”

“There’s barely any places open on Christmas, though.”

“Well, we’ll find something. And if not we’ll order in; delivery places are always open. But you deserve a break, kid. A day for you to just open presents, relax, and be lazy with me.”

Here Ben grabbed the remote and paused the tv, before asking,

“Hey though, seriously ... what _do_ you want for Christmas?”

“I don’t—“

“And you can’t say ‘I don’t want anything’,” Ben interrupted, beating Hux to the punch.

Hux sighed. “But I honestly don’t _need_ anything. Well, no, I take that back — I could use some socks. Nearly all my pairs are worn out or have holes in the toe.”

Ben groaned loudly. “Socks? Hux ... _socks_?? You’re killing me here!”

“What about you? What do YOU want?”

“A trifecta of zip, zilch, and nada.”

“Oh, sure, _that’s_ not at all unfair. How come YOU can say you don’t want anything, but I can’t?”

“Because you already give me everything, that’s why. You’re constantly cooking for me, you do the laundry, you clean, you get on me about my homework ... you don’t need to give me anything.”

“That’s not gonna fly, Ben. You better think of something or I’m bringing you home something terrifying, like ... like a pet tarantula, or something.”

“Do it. Who said I was scared of spiders?”

“Oh, okay. So that WASN’T you who woke me up out of a dead sleep last week, SCREAMING like a child over a spider the size of my friggin’ thumbnail in the shower? Was that someone else, then?”

Ben scowled. “I wasn’t scared, I was ... I was surprised, is all.”

“How about you ‘surprise’ me and tell me what you want for Christmas?”

“Hey, you know, you’ve got something in your pants that I both want AND need,” Ben said, scooting closer and nibbling at Hux’s neck. “And you don’t have to wrap it or anything.”

“Yeah nice try, but you’re not distracting me,” Hux said, pushing him away. “It doesn’t have to be something life-changing, you know. But at least give me an idea!”

Ben sighed. “Okay, um ... I guess, since it’s getting colder, I could use a few long-sleeved shirts to wear to bed? All of my pajama shirts are short-sleeved and most are really worn out.”

Hux seemed surprised by Ben’s modest, practical suggestion ... but was pleased by it nonetheless.

“Alright. Thank you,” he said, kissing Ben’s cheek. “See, now, was that so hard?”

“Well it WAS, but then it kinda went away when you pushed me off of you.”

Hux sighed. “You really are impossible sometimes, you know that? Interesting, but utterly impossible.”

“Speaking of interesting, Rey texted me yesterday. She says we’re supposed to get a lot of sticking snow on Friday, and she wants to know if we want to go sledding with her this weekend.”

“Sledding? Really? I haven’t been sledding in years.”

“Me either. But it sounds like fun. Rey said there’s this gigantic hill at a park near her house, and we can go there. What do you think?”

“I think ... it’s gonna be hard buying sleds to accommodate our fat asses, but I’m in.”

“Excuse me? WHOSE ass is fat? I work out very hard to keep this body in peak condition, thank you very much.”

“You work out? When??”

“Just because you’ve never seen me do it doesn’t mean that I don’t.”

“Sure, but ... I mean last week I saw you take the elevator DOWN, _one_ floor, because you were ‘too tired’ to take the stairs. So the two pictures don’t really add up.”

“You know, you don’t get to fat-shame just because YOU can eat anything you want and never gain an ounce. And at least I HAVE an ass, fat or not. You have absolutely nothing back there!”

Hux grinned and said, slyly, “Funny you say that, because you certainly spent a long time doing ‘absolutely nothing’ last night.”

Ben couldn’t help but let out a laugh at that. “Wow. Touché, Hux. But okay, then you ARE going with us?”

“Yes, dear. But I’ve gotta warn you, when it comes to high speed rides, I’m a screamer.”

“It’s your own fault for riding it so fast. Slow your hips down and you wouldn’t scream; you’d just moan. Oh, wait, you meant a _sled_ ride, didn’t you?”

There was a long, loaded pause between them, and then Hux, his face flushed, cleared his throat and asked, “So what time’s your class at again?”

“Two. But, you know, suddenly, I feel like today would be better spent doing a LOT of _absolutely nothing_.”

Hux climbed over him, wrapping himself around Ben and slowly leaving kisses down Ben’s chest. “I was hoping you’d say that,” he murmured, before sinking into Ben’s lips.

— —

Christmas morning finally rolled around, and, despite their ages, the two of them found themselves unexpectedly giddy upon waking up.

“Mmmm, Santa Baby,” Hux said, rolling over on top of Ben, who had put on a Santa hat, “Let me sit on your lap and show you what a good boy I’ve been this year.”

“You know, as much as a turn-on as this is ... you’ve got a scavenger hunt to go on, Armitage.”

“A what?”, Hux asked, and then he took the time to look around him. “Oh, my god —“

Everywhere that Hux looked, there was a brand new pair of socks.

There were at least 50 different pairs, all colors, all lengths, some funny, some formal, some for everyday wear ... and Ben had taken the time to wrap different colored bows on each one, before hiding them all over the apartment. He had had to wait for Hux to fall asleep last night, so he could sneak out of bed and set it all up without being caught.

There were socks on the bedpost, socks on the lampshades, socks hanging off the bedroom and bathroom doorknobs, socks draped over Hux’s favorite chair, several hidden inside Hux’s various kitchen appliances, lined up on the windowsill, stuffed inside Hux’s shoes and slippers, and a good bunch hung like ornaments on the tree.

And Hux was legitimately excited, as he circled around the apartment finding his gifts at every turn.

“This is so cute,” Hux said, as he found pair after pair. “Thank you!”

“I STILL think this is the most boring gift request in the history of gift requests. But I can’t have your feet getting cold with holey socks.”

“Okay, now for you. Um, you said pajama shirts, but that sounded kinda boring, so, I wanted to make it fun,” Hux said, handing Ben a box tied off with a shiny red ribbon.

He opened the box on several long-sleeved shirts, each folded neatly on top of the other. As he lifted the first one carefully out, he gasped, his eyes wide.

“It’s ... it’s _us_ ,” Ben said, softly. 

There were 7 shirts in all, made from a nice, breathable, warm wool. Each one was a different color, and each had a different, beautifully-airbrushed picture of the two of them in the center. At restaurants, at the movies, at the beach. But Ben’s absolute favorite was one that Rey had taken several weeks ago. Ben and Hux were in the kitchen; Hux was cooking, stirring something in a pot, and Ben was standing behind him, his arms around Hux’s waist. Rey’s camera had caught them mid-kiss.

“Do ... do you like them?”, Hux asked, timidly.

“I absolutely fucking LOVE these,” Ben told him, throwing both arms around Hux and kissing his cheek. Then he laughed and said, “I’ve never been so excited to get _clothes_ for Christmas. Mom would be so proud of me.”

“My mom, too. I used to cry opening up boxes of socks. Now I’m so happy I could do cartwheels,” Hux said, and the two laughed together.

They headed into the kitchen, and Ben began to make them breakfast. He also took the opportunity to snack on the Italian Christmas cookies Hux had baked last night.

“What’s in these?”, Ben asked, as he stuffed the fourth one into his mouth. 

“Um, flour, sugar, lemon zest, vanilla extract, ricotta cheese, eggs —“

“Ricotta cheese? Seriously?”

“Yeah. A lot of people don’t know that you can use ricotta in a variety of desserts. It’s rich and creamy, but it doesn’t taste exactly like cheese, when you mix it up with other stuff.”

“Well, I’m gonna warm you right now; if you don’t take this plate away, I’m gonna eat all of them.”

“Eat up, love. Who do you think I make all this stuff for? The spiders?”

Ben chuckled, and quickly devoured his fifth and six cookies. As he was reaching for the seventh, however, Hux cleared his throat and said,

“So ... I kinda wanted to ask you something, Ben.”

“Yeah?”

“Um, I know you said we should relax today, but, um, a few of my classmates were talking about going to volunteer, to serve Christmas dinner at the church. It’s for the homeless, and those with not a lot of money or resources. As you can imagine, not many people volunteer on holidays. Would you mind, very much, if I —“

“Can I come too?”

“W-what?”

“Can I come, too? I mean I can’t really cook but I’m sure I can set up tables, or serve, or something.”

“You really want to spend Christmas doing this?”

Ben smiled and hugged Hux to him. “I want to spend Christmas with my boyfriend,” he said. “The fact that we’ll be doing something that helps other people is an incredible bonus.”

Hux hugged him back tightly. “You’re ridiculously awesome, you know that?”

“So are you. Now sit down, he said, turning back to the stove. “You’re not going anywhere without a good breakfast.”

The morning passed in the blink of an eye ...

... and thereby followed one of the busiest afternoons of either of their lives.

The church was buzzing with people, all trying their hardest to get things ready for the evening meal. Everything was being swept, mopped, dusted and polished. The gigantic rec room of the church was slowly converted into a dining hall, and the small kitchen was bubbling and boiling with all the food that had to be prepared, to feed the large crowd expected to come.

Ben found his forte in lifting and hauling. Together with other volunteers, he moved table after table out into the rec room, setting up folding chairs, and then using a spray solution to sanitize and make everything clean and presentable.

It turned out that the church also had a Santa Claus and a variety of donated gifts for the kids that would be coming. After setting up tables and chairs, Ben helped with that, wrapping up last-minute presents (gifts for boys were wrapped in blue paper, girls in pink, with the age range for said toy written on the label), and stacking them under the gigantic lighted tree. 

Hux, meanwhile, was kept busy in the kitchen. Dinner consisted of smoked turkey and ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, cornbread, dressing, cranberry sauce, and apple and pumpkin pie. Food would be served in a line, with people picking up plates at one end, and somebody doling out a different food to them at each stop.

By the time the church doors opened for dinner, everything was set up and ready to go. And not a moment too soon; more people came flooding in than Ben would have expected. All smiling, and eager at the prospect of a warm meal.

Those with children, however, were dragged towards Santa Claus first, and the tantalizing mountain of gifts, by their excited sons and daughters.

Ben found himself towards the end of the serving table, dishing up ladle-fulls of creamy mashed potatoes. Next to him stood an older woman, possibly mid-50’s in age, offering up cheerful conversation to those working around her.

“This is my first time ever doing something like this,” Ben told her, as he served those in front of him. “But I like it.”

“I do this every year,” she told Ben, smiling. “My son and I were homeless for three years; I know how special things like this are.”

“That’s awful,” Ben said, quietly, “I’m sorry things were like that for you.”

“It’s okay. Things happen the way they do for a reason. And one thing I learned, son; be thankful for what you have. Appreciate it. There’s always somebody who would be grateful to have the things that you have.”

Ben took that in, mulling it over on his mind as he continued to dish out food.

Before long, the line of people had ended, the tables all filled to the brim. Ben and the others took turns bringing empty food wells into the dishwashing room, and staying behind to man the table for those who wanted seconds.

As the people ate, the minister of the church walked around to each table, talking, admiring the new toys that the kids held up to show him, offering comfort and a prayer when requested.

Ben wasn’t really a religious person, by any means. But he recognized the importance that things like this held to some people, and the peace it could bring.

It was also amazing to think, how much good there was in the world. All of the food tonight, all of the gifts, had been made possible by the generosity and the donations of other people. And besides Ben and Hux, there were so many other volunteers, all sacrificing their time with friends and family to be here, creating a happy experience for complete strangers.

Ben’s mother, in her healthier days, had always been a staunch advocate and volunteer of charity work and community projects. She had always tried to convince her son to do these things with her, only to be rebuffed each time.

Now ... well ...

“Hey,” Hux said, shaking his shoulder. “You okay? You look a little spaced-out.”

“Yeah,” Ben said, smiling, “I’m okay.”

He picked up another empty well and balanced it in his arms, to take to the dishwashers. Hux grabbed one as well, and followed close behind him.

It was easily two hours after the diners had left, before everything was left in clean, tip-top shape again. By the time Ben and Hux got outside, they were both exhausted ... but in a good way.

“Your uncle was right,” Hux said softly, squeezing Ben’s hand as they walked along to the car. “This kind of thing really does make you appreciate all that you have. You and I ... we’re incredibly blessed, Ben.” 

“We are,” Ben agreed, getting into the car with Hux. “Thank you for this, by the way; I never would have thought of doing something like this myself.”

Hux smiled sand patted Ben’s shoulder. “Anytime, kid.”

“Hey, do you feel like going for a ride?”

“Where to?”

“You ever see what the beach looks like in the winter? It’s really gorgeous, almost surreal.”

“I’m in.”

The two drove along in silence until they made it to the lakefront, and Ben was right; it WAS quite beautiful. The full moon was shining off the water, and the waves were a ghostly white, half-filled with ice, crashing against the pale sand.

Despite it being cold, the two decided to get out and walk among the sandy hills. Ben gave Hux his second jacket, and the two kept an arm around each other, keeping warm.

When they got to this little area by the water, where the waves had eroded the sand and left behind a scatter of shining shells, Ben stopped walking and turned towards Hux, facing him. 

“So, I wasn’t sure if I’d have the courage to do this tonight or not,” Ben began, taking several deep breaths. “I wasn’t even sure I’d have the courage to do this, EVER. But today, being at that church, clarified something for me. Hux, you’re a _good_ person. I mean, people decide to be with other people for a million reasons. Like, the other person is cute, or they make you laugh. But how many people can genuinely look at their partner and say, this person, this _human_ , is a good person? This person has a good **soul**?”

“Ben? What are you —“

Hux’s words fell away, when Ben took hold of his hand, and lowered himself to one knee. 

“Armitage Hux. I think you’re a wonderful, beautiful human with an even more beautiful soul. You’re my baby, my best friend, my soulmate. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”

In the interval, he had taken a small velvet box out of his pocket, and opened it. A gorgeous silver band glinted at Hux in the moonlight, with a white diamond set in-between two rubies.

Hux looked at the ring, and at Ben, and every single word he had ever known flew out of his mind. So he did the only thing he could; he put his arms around Ben’s shoulders, and cried.

Hux had been dreaming about this moment, literally _dreaming_ about it, since the day Ben had kissed him for the first time. And against all odds, this man, this absolutely gorgeous angel, with his open heart and sensitivity and unending love and support, wanted HUX for a husband? 

Hux?

_Forever_?

“Yes,” Hux finally choked out, using his sleeve to wipe away his tears. “Yes, yes , yes!”

Ben (crying himself now) took the ring from the box and slipped it over Hux’s finger. 

It was freezing, and the temperature was dropping farther every second. But standing there, on the beach, holding each other ...

Neither man had ever felt warmer, or more _alive_ , in their entire lives.


	2. Chapter 2

“Hux ... there is no way. I mean there is no earthly way that I’m even going to consider letting YOU cook for your own wedding!”

“Why not? I think I can make 90% of the food the day before, and if I do it myself, I can make sure that I keep the budget to a minimum.”

“Is that what you’re worried about? Money? Because if you are, I’m sure we can find other things to cut back on, than you having to slave away in the kitchen when you should be enjoying the day.”

Hux sighed and leaned back into the couch, pulling on of the pillows over his face. “This is stressful,” he mumbled.

Ben leaned back as well, putting down the piece of paper that he had been writing possible caterers on. “Shit; tell me about it, babe.”

It was months later, early April, and Ben and Hux were rapidly closing in on their June 15th wedding date. If it had been up to Ben, he would have dragged Hux to the nearest justice of the peace the very day after he’d proposed; he wanted nothing quite so badly in the world as to be the man’s husband.

But Hux was a bit more of a traditionalist type. He wanted to get married in a church, in front of their friends and family, and to have a reception afterwards.

“And it has to be warm,” Hux had insisted, when talking about it to Ben. “I don’t want our guests to have to drive to the church in a snowstorm. Plus we should have some money put away for all this, and —“

“Alright, Hux,” Ben had conceded, giving him a hug. “I guess it’s a good idea to marry you; I suck at planning long-term events.”

And Hux was, indeed, a planner. After settling on a date, Hux went ahead and booked a church (it was the same church the two had volunteered at during Christmas, and several times after that; because of this, the minister was happy to give them a substantial discount), and had sent out invitations. Ben’s job was to do research on possible places for a reception, and compare prices until they found one affordable. But it was slow-going with that, and frustrating work.

“How come we have to do all this stuff now?”, he’d ask after many unsuccessful phone calls to possible venues. “Why can’t we do it a week or two before?”

Hux had rolled his eyes. “Because June is a busy season for weddings, and you’ve gotta book early, before everything is all filled up. Plus there’s the suits to consider.”

“I know exactly what suit I’m wearing; my bi—“

“Ben, if you’re about to say ‘my birthday suit’, I swear to God, you’re sleeping on the couch tonight.”

Ben pouted. “Way to take the wind out of my sails, man.”

There were two wedding invitations that they didn’t send out, however, as they wanted to tell the recipient in person.

Telling Brendol had been interesting; they hadn’t sent him an invitation, instead choosing to wait until March, which was when he made his next visit to the states.

After sitting and eating and talking for a good while, Ben had cleared his throat at the table and said, timidly,

“Mr. Hux? There’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”

Brendol had immediately straightened his posture, putting down his beer glass. “Yes?”

“Okay, um ... well you know Armitage and I have been together for a while now. I care for him a great deal. I _love_ him a great deal.”

“So I’ve gathered.”

“Right. Okay, well, I’m set to graduate school in August, with my degree. I don’t know if he told you, but I already have several job offers, as a company programmer and file encoder, from three different corporations.”

“Really? Well that’s splendid news, Benjamin. Congratulations.”

“T-thank you. Um, these jobs ... I mean I won’t be a millionaire or anything but they pay pretty well. And they offer great benefits. W-what I’m trying to say is, well, I know that you’re someone who believes in the idea of a man being able to provide for his family. Your son and I ... we’d both be able to provide for each other. Take care of each other. Um, I ... I love him, I love him more than anyone on this planet, and ... and ...”

Brendol leaned back, and underneath his beard, there was a hint of a smile. “Well, spit it out, lad; are you going to sit there with a face full of vinegar, or are you going to tell me when the wedding is?”

Ben burst into a short, relieved laugh. “Shit, okay; Mr. Hux, I’ve asked your son to marry me, and he said yes. We’re aiming for a June wedding, and we both really want you to be there.”

Brendol nodded, then stuck his hand across the table to each one. “St. Francis couldn’t keep me away. Congratulations.”

Telling Rey in particular had been fun.

In February, a great-uncle of Rey’s on her mother’s side had died, and she had taken a week off from school to come home and attend the funeral.

“I didn’t really want to come, though,” Rey told Ben and Hux, as she sat on their couch during a visit. “I’ve never even met this man, and mom herself didn’t like him; but she said that if we didn’t go we’d look bad to the rest of the family,” she’d explained, sighing.

“Well, at least you got to come see me,” Ben replied.

“Us. She got to come see US, not just you, Ben. Jeez you’re stingy with her.”

“How am I being stingy? She’s MY sister, after all.”

“Um, guys ...”, Rey began, unable to tell if they were being serious or not.

“You think everything is yours,” Hux retorted now, shaking his head. “I’m surprised you haven’t claimed the air, or the sky, yet.”

“Guys —“

“Oh, Hux. You’re amusing. Guys like you could never understand what us Alpha Males go through, in defending our territories and possessions.”

“I may not be an Alpha Male, but I’m man enough to go after what I want.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Rey ... Ben ... I’m sorry, but, I just can’t fight my feelings on this anymore,” Hux said, keeping his face straight as he moved from Ben’s side and sat down closer to Rey. 

“Um ... what?”

Hux took Rey’s hand, cradling it gently, as he explained, “Since the day I walked in here and saw you sitting on the couch with Ben, my life changed. I ... I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. You’re so beautiful and you’re smart and kind and —“

“Hux, what the fuck??”, Ben asked, trying to sound sufficiently angry. “Is this a joke?”

Rey’s entire face had blanched, and she quickly pulled her hand out of Hux’s and stood up so fast she nearly knocked over her soda. 

“Um .. I um .. I think I need to —“

“You’re not going anywhere until I say what I need to say.”

Rey watched, horrified, as Hux knelt on one knee in front of her, and took took a large, square box from his pocket, with a shiny pink bow on top. “Rey Solo; I love you so much. Will you —“

“Hux, stop!”

“ — be my sister-in-law?”, Hux finished, grinning. He opened the box; inside was a fancy, gilded-gold piece of paper; Ben and Hux’s wedding invitation.

Behind them, Ben, no longer able to hold it in, burst into loud laughter. Hux did the same, all but collapsing to the floor.

Rey continued to stand there, flabbergasted.

“Wait ... what?!”

Hux calmed himself, and got to his feet. “Your brother decided it would be fun to have me sob like a baby by asking me to marry him. When I stopped, I said yes.”

“You’re ... I mean you’re being serious? You guys are getting married?”

Ben also calmed down, and went to where Rey and Hux were standing, a wide smile on his face. “This June, if you’re interested. Of course, you don’t HAVE to come, if —“

Rey threw her arms around him so hard that she nearly took him down to the floor.

“Oh, Ben!”, she exclaimed, squeezing him tightly. “Of course I’m interested! Oh my God, I’m so happy for you!”

“Hey, what about me?” Hux asked, tapping Rey’s shoulder. “I give you the most beautiful brother-in-law proposal ever, and I don’t even get a hug? Maybe I need to re-think this whole marrying into your family thing ...”

Rey left Ben and squeezed Hux this time, kissing his cheek. “First of all, you almost gave me a heart attack, you asshole. Second, I’d be completely honored to be your sister, Hux.”

That was a month ago, and although the big day was getting closer, neither man felt any less stressed out about it.

“You know, this day needs to be happy for us, Armitage. I’ve been doing some thinking, and I’ve got some ideas I’d like to bounce off of you.”

Hux stretched out on the couch, using Ben’s lap for a pillow. “Okay. I’m listening.”

“Okay, how about this ... how about we have the church wedding as planned, because that hardly cost anything to begin with, but instead of the fancy (and super-expensive) reception, we have a ... a potluck, kind of.”

Hux looked up into Ben’s face with curiosity.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, okay, with the way the economy is right now, literally everyone is understanding the need to pinch pennies. So an inexpensive reception wouldn’t be found objectionable by a lot of people, and especially not our friends, right?”

“Right.”

“Okay, and all together, we only have like, 50 guests. If we could get even just 10 of those people to volunteer to make a dish, that’d be enough food for everyone. Half the people you invited are all culinary students, so I know they could put out some tasty things. And I’m not talking about ultra-fancy cuisine; I’m talking about everyday, yummy food. Cheap to make but great to eat. Food that you’d go for at a picnic or a buffet, kinda. And then maybe we could go to that deli your friend owns, get one of those huge trays of cold-cuts, or something like that? I’ve been looking around, and I found out that we can rent out that one park, you know the one with the pond, and those huge weeping willow trees? We can rent that, plus tents and chairs, and a sound system with speakers, for half of what the reception hall was going to cost. And don’t forget, I still have an entire closet full of that good wine my mom collected; I can’t think of a better possible time to get rid of it all.”

Hux sat up slowly, his eyes glowing. “I really like what you’re saying. But do you think our friends would be up for it?”

“Only one way to find out.”

So Ben and Hux spent their next few days calling up their friends and family, explaining their tentative plans. And, to their surprise, everyone they talked to loved their idea for the reception.

“I seriously wish I had done something like this for my wedding,” one of Hux’s friends, Dan, told him. “A traditional reception is so stiff and formal and boring; yours sounds like a hell of a fun party.”

“Guys, be prepared; I’m about to explode your taste buds with my famous enchilada lasagna rolls!”, Ben’s co-worker, Lina, told him.

Also surprisingly, many more people volunteered to make something than Ben had projected, with at least half of their guests eager to prove their culinary prowess. Barbecued chicken wings, burgers, potato and macaroni and pasta salads, slow-roasted pulled pork sandwiches, lamb kabobs, pies, homemade salsa and pico de Gallo, spaghetti and meatballs, fish tacos — Ben’s mouth was watering just thinking about it. Hux’s teacher, who was invited to the wedding, even volunteered himself and his wife to make the cake, which Ben and Hux had also been shopping around for.

And a huge bonus: Hux’s father had given them an early wedding gift: round-trip airline tickets and a five day six night stay at a resort in Barbados.

“Holy shit,” Ben said over and over, reading over the tickets and the brochure. “I mean, seriously, _holy **shit**_ , Hux!”

“I don’t want you to think you’re marrying rich here or anything; my aunt told me that dad won that package in a high-stakes bingo game. Apparently he was angry that he he didn’t win the year’s supply of beer that he had been playing for. Dad says the tickets and the resort vouchers are valid for a year, we’ve just gotta make sure we book a few weeks in advance to make sure we get a good flight out there.”

Ben wrapped around Hux, kissing his neck. “Still ... _Barbados_? I heard the air and water are the same temperature as your body, so you can go around completely naked.”

“Really?”, Hux said, grinning. “That’s your biggest interest here? Not the boat tours, the luxury suite, the free scuba diving lessons, swimming with dolphins, the para-sailing, the —“

“Actually, I’m currently feeling up the thing I’m most interested in,” Ben explained, sliding his hand down Hux’s stomach. “Everything else is just foreplay.”

“Foreplay is for the weak,” Hux said, softly kissing him and biting down Ben’s lower lip. “Real men just get to it.”

Ben bent down and and lifted Hux up off his feet, heading for their bedroom.

“Well, if you insist —“

— — 

“Hey mom. So, today’s the big day,” Ben said, as he stood in front of the mirror. He thought he looked okay, but he was too nervous to make a really good assessment. And he couldn’t ask Hux for his opinion; the two had decided to spend the night before the wedding apart, so that the first time they saw each other would be at the church. Hux had stayed with Rey and Kira last night, leaving Ben alone in the apartment.

Well, not quite alone.

Brendol had taken the opportunity to grab an earlier flight in, instead of arriving early tomorrow morning as planned. So he had shown up at the boys’ apartment, and he and Ben spent a somewhat awkward night alone with each other.

Brendol wasn’t much one for talking, even when Hux was there, and Ben’s nerves over his upcoming day prevented him from making much conversation at all. After a dinner of Chinese food, the two had gone to bed early.

And now the day was here. After an anxious morning, Ben was finally showered and in his suit. He and Hux hadn’t even shown each other the suits they’d bought, wanting that to be a surprise, too. Ben had chosen a sleek black tux with a charcoal-gray undershirt, amd both he and Hux were wearing a pink tie to represent their mothers. 

A tie that he was struggling fix, as he spoke out-loud to his mother.

“I really wish you could be here today, mom. I just know you’d love Hux. He’s a good person, and he has the most beautiful heart. I can’t wait till we have kids together, until you have grandkids.”

There was a knock on his door. “Benjamin?”

“Come in.”

Hux’s dad walked in, looking quite distinguished in his dark gray and blue suit. 

“Are you almost ready? The limo will be here in about ten minutes.”

“Yeah I’m almost ready,” Ben said, turning back to the mirror. “But this tie —“

“Your father didn’t teach you how to tie a tie?”

“No, sir,” Ben replied, feeling frustrated. “My dad left when I was still a kid.”

Brendol stepped further into the room with a grunt, and went to Ben. He swatted Ben’s struggling hands away, then slowly began fixing Ben’s tie himself, explaining in-depth how he was doing it.

“There. Now you look as a gentleman should.”

Ben looked at himself in the mirror, smiling.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Benjamin; I just want you to know, I’m happy that my son is marrying somebody like you. You’re a strong, decent, dependable lad, and you keep Armitage grounded. I don’t believe he could have picked a better person to spend his life with.”

Ben’s surprise turned to utter astonishment when Brendol put his arms around him, giving him a firm hug.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Ah, well, I suppose that NOW you can call me dad,” Brendol said, a smile on his face. “Just promise me one thing; I don’t care how you manage it, but I’m going to need at least 10 grandchildren from you both before I meet my maker. And I’d like for them to call me pop-pop.”

Ben laughed and patted Brendol’s shoulder. “We’ll get right to work on that, dad.”

— —

“I’m loving the pink tie,” Rey said, as she sat on her bed, watching Hux make the final adjustments to his suit. “And a blue-black tux ... does Ben know how much fashion sense you’ve got? You look fucking fantastic!”

Hux blushed. “Thanks, sis. You know you’re quite the pretty picture yourself,” he said, referring to Rey’s adorable dark green dress with the retro black sash tied in a large bow at the hip.

“So are you scared about today?”

Hux sighed and went to sit beside her on the edge of the bed. “Yes, and no. No because marrying Ben might be the smartest thing I ever do in my life. Yes because ... there’s gonna be other people there. What if I trip, or stutter my vows, or something?”

“Everything’s going to be fine, Hux. By the way, thank you and Ben for inviting my mother, too. Honestly she’s been so surprised, at how nice Ben treats her, considering, well, you know.”

“Your mom is a sweetheart, Rey, just like you. And Ben can’t be angry at her for something that happened in the past, that wasn’t even her fault, you know? In all honesty I don’t feel like he’s really angry at your dad anymore, either.”

“Well, that’s good. All that bad energy just weighs you down, you know? Better to let it go and look to the future.”

“I agree.”

“Rey!”, Kira called out from the other room. “Come help me with my hair, please!”

Rey patted Hux on the shoulder. “You gonna be okay in here?”

Hux nodded. “I’m okay. Go help your mom; because honey, _everybody_ needs to look **F A B U L O U S** at my wedding,” he joked, snapping his fingers.

Rey laughed and left him, closing the door behind herself.

“Um, hi, mama,” Hux said softly out loud, somewhat awkwardly. “I know I’ve never done this before, but Ben says it helps him feel better, so maybe it’ll help me feel better, too. I miss you so much that I can’t stand it sometimes. And I miss you most of all today. I wish you could meet Ben; actually, he reminds me a lot of you. He has a great sense of humor, he’s shy but he’s sensitive and caring, and he’s just ... he has a beautiful spirit. Dad’s doing okay, in case you were worried about him. I know he misses you too. Anyway ... I love you, mama, and I know you’ll be with me today in spirit.”

“Hux?”, Rey called to him from the living room. “Come on, the limo’s here!”

Hux took a deep breath, and stood up.  
He was ready for this.

— —

Twenty minutes until the ceremony started, and Ben was nowhere to be found.

Hux walked around, mingling with the guests, keeping an eye out for his fiancé.

“You’re sure he came with you in the limo?”, Hux asked his father, worried.

“I’m positive he did. He’s probably just outside somewhere getting some air.”

So Hux walked out the front door, searching for Ben. When he rounded the corner to the back of the church, he smiled: Ben was sitting on a bench underneath a tree, a small piece of paper in his hands. From where Hux stood, he could see Ben mouthing words to himself.

“Here you are,” Hux said, as he walked up sat down beside him. “I’ve been looking all over for you. You’re not thinking of standing me up, are you?”

Ben shook his head. “Of course not. I was just practicing my —“

Bens words froze on his tongue, as he turned his head and took a really good look at Hux.

“Oh, my God,” he said, softly. “Oh, my _God_. Am I dreaming?”

“What’s wrong?”

“You look absolutely _exquisite_. Jesus Christ am I dreaming?”

Hux blushed. “You already said that.”

“Well, shit, you knocked all of my thoughts clean out of my head. I’m almost scared to touch you, I don’t want you contaminate you.”

“Well you better touch me, or it’s gonna be a pretty dull honeymoon,” Hux replied, smirking. “But speaking of ‘exquisite’ ... Ben Solo, put a blanket on. Cover up. Because there’s no way in hell that you’ll make it even 2 feet off this bench without somebody trying to kidnap your magnificent self. Bloody hell, have you even SEEN yourself today?”

Ben blushed, and put his head on Hux’s shoulder. “Do you feel as nervous as I do?”

“Yeah. Here,” Hux said, taking Ben’s hand and putting it on his chest. “Feel how hard my heart is beating?”

“Well, I’d kiss you to slow it down, but I don’t wanna spoil my appetite for our alter-kiss.”

“Actually if you kissed me, it’d probably speed up even harder, so maybe that’s a good thing.”

Both of them laughed, and suddenly they could hear the sound of their soft warm-up music (the song they played before THE song).

“Shit ... it’s almost time,“ Hux said, standing and offering Ben his hand, to pull him up. “You ready for this?”

“I was born ready, baby.”

“Hey, Ben ... I just want you to know, this has been the best day of my life. I know the day isn’t over yet, I know we haven’t even gotten to the most important part, but I already know that no other day before or after will take precedence over this one. Just so you know.”

Ben smiled and squeezed his hand. “You took the words right out of my mouth. Meet me at the altar; I’ll be the tall pale one standing by the minister.”

As Ben walked ahead to take his place, he had to stop, surprised.

Rey had done something rather lovely for both of them. After many stealth visits to their apartment over the past month, she had managed to procure a variety of pictures of the two men, respectively, with their mothers. She had taken each picture, put them in shiny pink frames, and set them in two chairs, side by side, adorned with flowers and streamers.

One look at the chairs very nearly caused Ben to burst into tears. He just barely held it back with a superhuman effort, but God, it was difficult.

And then it happened.

The song that Hux had chosen to walk down the aisle to was an instrumental melody by a composer named Satie, the title of which was Gymnopedie No. 1. Ben had never heard of this song; this was the first time, and it was so ethereal and shatteringly beautiful that it literally took Ben’s breath away. Hux came out of the curtain and began to walk towards him, and Ben could hold it back no longer. Tears ran freely down his face, running all the way past his neck and into his collar.

Standing there and holding Hux’s hands made everyone else fade away. Ben could barely hear the words of the minister, and only tuned back in when he got to “The intended have chosen to write their own vows.”

Ben pulled the paper he had been looking at earlier back out of his pocket, and, taking a deep breath, began,

“Armitage. You know I’m not the best with my words, so please bear with me as I struggle to find what I need to say, to express how I feel. When you first met me, you met me at the worst possible time in my life. I was lonely, I was lost, and I was heartbroken over the loss of my mother. I was trying my best to move forward and make positive changes in my life, but my progress was impeded by the depression I just couldn’t shake. But suddenly, unexpectedly, you showed up. And no matter how cold I was, how distant, or downright rude, your smile never faltered, and your warmth never faded. You believed in me, you motivated me, you held my hand and you pushed me into being the best man I could possibly be. Every single time I’ve ever been down, or overwhelmed, or the clouds were closing in over my head, you were there. You reached into the darkness, took my hand, and pulled me back towards the light. Becoming your friend was beautiful, becoming your boyfriend was astonishing, and now, becoming your husband will be the greatest adventure of my life. Thank you for —“

Here he paused, and folded up the rest of his paper. 

“Just, thank you,” he finished, softly. “I love you more than all of the words in all of the world could ever express.”

By this time, Hux’s eyes were so full of tears that he couldn’t even see his own paper. After several deep wipes with his sleeve, and a calming breath, he read, in a somewhat shaky voice,

“Ben. I’ve always been the kind of person who knew exactly what they wanted in life. I wanted a simple, quiet life living in a simple, quiet apartment. No surprises, no challenges, everything a calm, placid lake. And then one day I go to check my mail, and you walked by. It was a second, just a split second that you were near me, but that one bare second changed everything. Everything that I thought I wanted scattered into the wind, everything that I ever envisioned for my future broke into a thousand pieces. I’m not much one for poetry or platitudes and I’ve never been one to believe in love at first sight, but that day you walked by me, that very second, it was over for me. I knew that by any means, I had to be with you. I had to have your hand in mine as I walked through the rest of life. I never expected your friendship, and I NEVER expected the blessing of the day when you told me that you loved me, too. And today — I can’t classify today as anything but a miracle. And I couldn’t be prouder to stand up here, in front of our friends, our family, and God, and tell you how much I adore you, and how I can’t wait to start this next phase of our journey together.”

By the time the minister pronounced them married, there wasn’t a dry eye in the entire church. Even Brendol was gruffly clearing his throat and blinking his eyes far too many times for it to be a coincidence.

“Oh my God we did it!”, Hux murmured against Ben’s lips. “Ben, we’re MARRIED!”

Between the kissing and the crying, Ben couldn’t answer him. But what he couldn’t say he radiated out in waves, and Hux understood him perfectly.

Their lips didn’t leave each other for a moment on the ride to their reception, and it only stopped when Rey informed them that “I can’t just have a full camera roll of you guys making out!”

Their reception was a surreal painting of perfection. A warm, sunshine filled day, happy people, and a veritable mountain of food.

Ben and Hux both ate their full, and had an amusing moment of playfully shoving cake into each other’s faces.

They had chosen the first song they danced to together to be Come Away With Me, by Norah Jones. It was the song that was playing when they walked into the restaurant of their first date. 

Neither of them were very good at dancing, but nobody seemed to notice. And for their part, both of them didn’t truly notice the presence of anybody around them, either.

As the day wore on, fading into early twilight, Ben and Hux found a small picnic table away from the crowd, to sit and rest at.

Hux leaned back against Ben, enjoying the feel of Ben’s arms providing a warm circle around his chest.

“You know, I’ve heard before that people who get married don’t really get a chance to enjoy their day. Like, everything goes by so fast and you’re so nervous that you’re not really taking it in. Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve enjoyed every second of this day.”

Ben tightened his arms around him. “I completely agree. Even the part where I puked in the bushes outside the church.”

Hux laughed. “Really? Well I bet I can top you; I lost my breakfast in the limo-driver’s _hat_. I had to grab it off his head while he was driving. You should have seen Rey and Kira’s faces. So expect to see a bill from THAT at some point in the future.”

“You know what? I’ll pay it myself. And I’ll take the receipt and frame it on the wall, right next to our marriage certificate.”

Hux smiled. “Speaking of framing things, can I please put up the paper you wrote your vows on? You said some incredibly beautiful things; I want to always remember them.”

“You can have it if I can have yours, baby. You said mine were beautiful? Yours were about to make me cry.”

“This is so weird, Ben. Like, you’re my HUSBAND. One day you’re sitting in my kitchen eating boxty and the next you’re putting a ring on my finger. This all feels like some insane dream.”

“You know what’s even weirder? Your father HUGGED me today.”

“Shut the fuck up. There’s no way!”

“God I wish someone had been around to snap a picture. But yes, he hugged me. And he told me that I was the best possible person for you to end up with, and he even said I could call him ‘dad’.”

“Ben ... that’s great,” Hux said, softly. “I never thought dad would come around to this. Like, never in a million years. See what I mean about everything feeling like a dream?”

“‘All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream,’” Ben quoted one of his favorite poems. “You’re a dream, I’m a dream, life is a dream. Let’s enjoy it to the fullest, huh?”

“Speaking of full, or lack thereof, I’m hungry again. Let’s go and get some of that buffet before all these vultures completely pick it over.”

Ben groaned. “But I don’t wanna let go of you; you’re so soft and cuddly.”

“Well, then carry me over there,” Hux said with a smirk. He had been joking, but he let out a surprised laugh when Ben bent down and swept his feet out from under him. 

“As you wish,” Ben said, kissing Hux’s forehead before sprinting him to the food.


	3. Chapter 3

“Mmm, my baby is impressive. Graduating with honors, top of the class, and a new promotion at work? Jesus; I married _right_.”

Ben blushed. “Oh, stop. It’s not that big a deal.”

“The fuck it isn’t. And you’re not taking this away from me, buddy. You’re my man and I’m proud of you. So bear with it.”

It was a good day for Ben. After two and a half years, working hard and studying his ass off, he had finally obtained the degree he’d been after for so long. Well, second degree; he’d finished his Associate’s about 2 months after getting married, then found out his Bachelor’s would only take two years more. And now, earlier that afternoon, he’d walked the stage. A certain redhead had been in the front row, and although he was generally a quiet person, nobody in that building shouted louder or clapped harder than Armitage ‘Hux’ Solo.

“All joking aside, Ben, you did something amazing. You set a goal for yourself, and you tackled it. Going to school is hard at any age, especially going back after the setbacks you went through. But you did it. And I know I tell you you’re good-looking a lot, and you are, but the most attractive thing about you is your intelligence, and your tenacity. I’m so fucking proud of you that I could burst.”

Ben didn’t have the vocabulary, for how Hux’s words were making him feel. If he could speak, he’d tell Hux how he wished his mom was there, how he’d always wanted to hear ‘I’m proud of you’ from his absent father. He wished he could say these things, but ...

... all he could do was wrap his arms around Hux, and hug him as hard as he could.

But that was okay.  
It was enough.

He was a little surprised, honestly; everyone he’d ever talked to on the matter told him that the ‘honeymoon phase’ for newlyweds wore off after about a year, at the latest. But here they were almost 3 years later, and they were going stronger, and were more affectionate, than ever before.

Hux wasn’t doing too badly himself. He’d graduated from culinary school around the same time Ben had gotten his associates, and had immediately obtained work as a Sous Chef (which was a huge deal; most graduates started out working as line or prep cooks and working their way up, but Hux’s reputation and recommendations from his teachers were so good that he bypassed the ladder almost completely) at a small, elegant Italian restaurant in the next town.

Rey was a junior in college now, and was doing incredibly well. She couldn’t come home often (after all, airfare doesn’t exactly come cheap for a working college student), but when she did, she always spent a lot of time with her brother and brother in law.

“We have to celebrate,” Hux said now, as he let go of Ben. “What do you want to do? Dinner, maybe some dancing? Or we could invite some of our friends out for drinks? Or —“

“Um, will you be disappointed if I said I’d rather just stay here?”

“Of course not. Hey, are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“I don’t know, you seem a little down. Like you’re tired or something. Do you feel sick at all?”

“Oh, no, I swear I’m fine. I guess I AM just a little tired lately.”

“Well, how about this: you go lay down on the couch. I’ll make you something to eat, and then we can spend the evening just relaxing and watching movies.”

Ben smiled. “I love you, you know that?”

“I love you too. Which is why I’m gonna make you the best damn spaghetti and meatballs in the whole world.”

“Big balls?”

“Well I dunno, I’d say that they’re pretty avera— oh wait, you meant _meat_ balls, didn’t you? Yeah don’t worry, I’ll make ‘em big and juicy for you, baby.”

Ben smiled after Hux went whistling into the kitchen. He was, indeed, a lucky man.

—

A couple of days later, and Hux was emerging from the shower, getting ready for work. His day started at 11, but Ben’s started at 8am, so before Hux had even woken up most days, Ben was already dressed and gone.

Hux was a bit worried; Ben was acting weird lately. Sluggish, moving like an old man, and his appetite was really off. And last night was a first: he had actually turned down Hux when he asked if he wanted to have sex.

Hux tried to tell himself that Ben was just tired. His new promotion came with a lot more responsibilities, and a heavier work-load; so naturally, until he got used to the pace, he was going to take some time to adjust his energy level.

Hux finished getting dressed and was ready to go. He stepped out of the bedroom and into the living room ... and did a double-take, shocked: Ben was laying on the couch, fully dressed, curled into a ball.

“Oh my God, Ben??”, Hux said, quickly going to him. “I thought you left for work two hours ago!”

“I called in. Just can’t seem to get going today.”

“Why didn’t you come back to bed?”

Ben shrugged. “Seemed kinda far away.”

“The bedroom seemed far away to you?”

Ben groaned and pulled the blanket from behind the couch over himself. “No offense, but can you yell at me about this later? I have such a headache.”

“I wasn’t going to yell, honey. To be honest, you’re scaring me a little.”

Ben scoffed. “Because I don’t feel good? Everyone has an off day now and then, don’t they? You were down with the flu just last month.”

“Babe ... this doesn’t seem like the flu. And this has been going on for awhile now. You’re almost always tired, and —“

“Since when is being tired a crime?”

“No. I’m not making accusations here, I’m honestly just worried. I want you to call and make an appointment to see the doctor.”

“You’re making a big deal out of nothing. I’m probably just coming down with a cold. Give me a day or two and I’ll — and I’ll —“

Hux looked on in surprise, as Ben actually fell asleep mid-sentence.

Hux quickly went into the bedroom and called into work. Then he got Ben’s shoes from where he’d kicked them off under the table, kneeling down and getting them back on his feet.

“What are you doing?”, Ben asked, sounding grumpy at being woken up.

“Gonna take you to the ER, okay?”

“No you’re not. I’m fine.”

“Yes I am, and no you’re not fine. Come on, give me your hand, I’ll help you up.”

Ben, feeling just too tired to argue, let Hux help him up, and slowly make their way out of the apartment, into the elevator, and to the car. 

—

Normally, Ben hated the hospital, bordering almost on being terrified of it. But today (perhaps luckily for him) he was simply too tired to care what was going on.

He didn’t flinch when they stuck a needle in him to draw blood, he did a dreamwalker’s stagger to the little bathroom down the hall to give a urine sample. He didn’t blink during the EKG. He didn’t even complain when the nurse hooked him up to an IV to get some fluids into him.

Finally, after what felt like days (but was only about 4 hours) later, the doctor came in with a diagnosis: Ben was suffering from anemia.

“You have some deficiencies that would account for the low energy levels,” the physician said, reading over the papers. “Low iron, low vitamin B. But these are common causes of anemia, and luckily, they can be treated, with the proper supplements, and some rest.”

The doctor kept talking, but Ben, exhausted from the tests, just closed his eyes, trusting that Hux would take in everything he was saying.

“Ben?”

Ben opened his eyes; Hux was gently shaking him awake. “The doctor said as soon as you feel up to it, we can go home.”

“‘Kay. Give me a few minutes.”

Hux held up two tiny pill bottles. “He gave us a week’s worth of iron and vitamin B supplements, but I have a prescription to get more when these run out. He already gave you a dose of both earlier, so we’ll start on these in the morning. In the meantime he wants you to be on bed rest for three days, to give yourself time to adjust to the dosage.”

Ben nodded. “Okay; I can work remotely on my laptop from home, so that won’t be a problem.”

Ben slowly pushed back the covers, and, with Hux helping him, managed to get on his feet and dressed. Going out to the car seemed like a lifelong journey, and once they were there, Ben let out a tired sigh of relief. 

Before leaving the parking lot, Hux leaned across the seats and hugged Ben to him, hard.

“I’m so glad it’s something we can fix,” Hux said, hanging onto Ben’s neck.

“Why are you shaking??”

“I was so scared it was something serious, that’s why.”

“You really care that much?”

Hux looked at him incredulously. “Do I care that much? Ben, you’re my HUSBAND. I love you so much it’s not even funny. Which is why you’ve got to take better care of yourself, alright? The doctor said you’ve probably had this for awhile, and you’ve probably been feeling bad even longer than that. But I know you; you shrug things off and pretend like they’re no big deal. Well, you’re not doing that anymore. I don’t care if the pills look like horse pills, you’re taking them. And you’re going to talk to me and be honest when you’re not feeling well. And you’re going to get a full 8 hours each night. And —“

Ben cut him off with a kiss. “Okay. I’ll do anything you say, doctor.”

“Keep that in mind, because the doctor also said we need to make some adjustments to your diet, to help keep your iron levels up. That means more things like spinach, and collard greens, broccoli, beans, salmon, liver —“

“Liver?? Oh, God.”

“Baby don’t worry; you know I’ll find a way to make whatever you eat taste good. But your health is important, meaning we’re going to treat it like it’s important. Okay?”

“Okay. Um, thank you, Hux. For bringing me here.”

Hux smiled and patted Ben’s hand, before turning on the car. “It’s what I’m here for, babe.”

When they got home, Hux immediately sent Ben into the bedroom, telling him to stay there until Hux brought him dinner. Ben would only go after making Hux swear that he wouldn’t bring him liver (Ben insisted that he ‘just wasn’t ready’ for that yet).

On his way to the kitchen, Hux stopped at the phone in the hallway, noticing that the red message light was flashing.

He pushed it — and felt his entire world shift.

“Armitage?”, came the crinkly voice from the machine. “This is your aunt Betty. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but ... your father had a heart attack early this morning. He — he didn’t make it. Please call me back as soon as you can at ...”

— —

Ben struggled to sit upright. It was only one day after his hospital visit, and his energy level was still staggeringly low, but that didn’t matter right now. Hux needed him.

Finding out that Brendol was dead had come as an extreme shock to the two men. He had just visited them a couple of months ago, and had been as hearty and vital as ever.

“Doesn’t really surprise me that his heart gave out,” Hux said, in a flat voice. “He drank way too much and his diet was full of fats and salt.”

“Still ... baby are you okay?”

Ben had asked him this at least a dozen times already. Yesterday he hadn’t shed a single tear over the news, and today he was much the same.

“I’m okay. I’m fine.”

“So, um, is his funeral in Ireland, then? Should we book a flight?”

“No. His body is being flown out here. He ... he was always very specific that when his time came, he wanted to be laid next to my mother.”

Ben nodded. “Okay, then; so we’re having his funeral here?”

Again, Hux shook his head. “No. Dad didn’t want a funeral. His plot next to my mother is already paid for, and I thought maybe I could talk to Father Towe about saying some kind of prayer, but that’s it.”

“What about your family in Ireland?”

“I spoke with my aunt; they already had a wake for him, said goodbye in their own ways.” Here he paused and smiled, saying, “It’s too bad we couldn’t have gone to that. You ever been to an Irish wake before? Nothing better for getting stone-drunk and eating until your belly explodes. If you don’t mind eating with a corpse in the next room, that is.”

“I’ve never been to any kind of wake, period. But I’ll take your word for it. Um, do you want _me_ to go to Father Towe? You’ve got enough to worry about right now.”

Hux shook his head and stood up, going to the hook behind the door and grabbing his jacket. “No. I’ll go. I’ll go now, try and catch him before services start. Then I’ll swing by the funeral home and see what just the burial will cost, and if they can do it this Sunday.”

Ben jumped up too. “Let me go with you.”

“No, you stay here, please. I need to air the webs out my head for awhile, okay? And besides, you’re supposed to be resting and getting better.”

Even though Hux’s choice of words was odd, Ben knew exactly what he meant. “Alright. Well, I’m here if you need me, okay?”

Hux nodded, gave Ben a small smile, then was out the door.

Ben sighed; Hux was clearly hurting over this, but he was keeping the majority of his emotions bottled up inside. Ben recognized that well enough; he had gone into a robotic state for almost two whole months after his mother had passed, not allowing himself to dwell on or FEEL much of anything.

But when his mother had passed, Ben hadn’t had Hux by his side, to help him through it.

Hux had Ben, and Ben wished that Hux would let him do more. When Ben had tried to hug him after they first got that phone call, Hux had actually shrugged him off, seeming unwilling to accept any tenderness or affection from him.

Rey had called the day earlier, from California, and she and Hux had had a long talk. Ben couldn’t tell much from Hux’s side of the conversation, however, as Hux mostly gave Mm-hm’s or one word responses to whatever Rey was saying. Likely she was trying to show that she knew how Hux felt, seeing as how she had lost Han not too long ago.

((And that was something else Ben felt guilty about, his inability to RELATE to Hux on the issue of losing a father. Hux had been close to his, and he was hurting. But Ben ... the day he had met Rey, and she had told him Han was gone, he’d felt absolutely nothing. A deep empty vacuum where sadness should have been. And as the months passed, he slowly began to feel more; anger, and regret, but never grief, like what Hux was feeling for HIS dad. They could relate perfectly on the topic of mothers, but with their dads? Two different universes.))

At the end of their talk, Hux had smiled, said, “I love you, too,”, and clicked off his phone. He had stood up without a word, went into the bedroom, and closed the door behind him. 

Ben hadn’t wanted to bother him, but after about two hours had passed without Hux re-emerging, he ventured a peek into the room. He’d found Hux fast asleep, still fully dressed, on top of all the covers. He stayed that way the entire night.

— 

The day of the burial was, perhaps appropriately so, a gloomy one. Muggy and overcast, with occasional showers dampening the ground (and their faces).

Hux hadn’t wanted to dress up (explaining that his dad wasn’t one for ‘pomp and frills’) but he and Ben DID both wear black, out of respect.

Two men were waiting by the grave when Hux arrived, the coffin already prepared to be lower. Hux had had a moment alone with his fathers body back at the funeral home, which Ben was profoundly thankful that Hux didn’t request him to go inside with him. This entire thing creeped him out to no end, although he would never say this to Hux.

Ben kept his eyes trained elsewhere, as they covered the coffin with dirt. He hadn’t wanted to see this part at his own mother’s funeral; something about seeing the hole covered up was so ... so _final_ , that it sent chills up Ben’s spine.

But Hux didn’t look away.

Ben was a bit startled; Hux’s hand was shaking, and quite hard at that. Ben felt helpless; he wanted so bad to give comfort, to make this better, but he didn’t know how.

The shaking slowed down after Father Towe began saying his piece, although Hux’s grip on Ben’s hand seemed to tighten just the slightest bit. 

After the prayer, Hux shook the Father’s hand, and then the two of them were left alone with the graves.

“These are for you, mama,” Hux said, laying the bouquet down gently against the stone. “Dad, I would have brought you some, but you always said flowers were for women; and I KNOW you would have torn me a new one if I showed up here without flowers for mom. Um, I miss you both. But, if there’s a heaven, I’d like to think you’re both there, together again. Happy. Dad playing golf and mom yelling at dad about leaving his dirty socks on the couch. Oh; by the way, mom, this is Ben. I know I’ve told you a lot about him, but this is the first I’ve been able to bring him to meet you.”

“Hello,” Ben said, smiling. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Mrs. Hux. To meet you, and to thank you, for bringing Armitage into this world. I don’t know what I’d be without him.”

Hux smiled at that, patting the hand that Ben had on his shoulder.

“See? I told you he’s amazing. And you don’t have anything to worry about, with me. I’m happy, I’m healthy, and I’m with somebody that I love. So don’t worry; just enjoy your time together. Take good care of each other. I’ll see you both again someday. I ... I love you guys.”

Hux stood up with a sigh, taking several deep breaths. “Okay, I’m ready to go now.”

The two walked quietly, thoughtfully back to the car, carefully stepping their way around the many graves scattered here and there.

“Hey, so, this may be the wrong time for this, but ... have I ever told you how good you look in black?”

Hux nodded. “You have. On our wedding day. But thanks.”

Ben put the key in the slot, but hesitated to turn the car on.

“Um, are you hungry? Do you want to go get something to eat?”

“No. Let’s just go home.”

“You sure? I mean, um, you haven’t had too much in the past week, here, you know? And we don’t really have much at home other than stuff for sandwiches, and maybe some eggs.”

Hux sighed. “Shit; I forgot to go to the grocery store this week, didn’t I? I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, I can go, too, Hux. I mean I don’t have your discerning culinary eye, but we won’t starve.”

Ben started the car, and out of no where, Hux burst out laughing. He laughed so hard that he couldn’t breathe, and his face was turning as red as his hair.

“Hux —?”

“You ... you ... the last time you went to the grocery store, you came back with NINE bags of candy!! NINE!”

Ben smiled. “I told you; I didn’t get them just because. It was 4 days after Halloween, all that candy was super-discounted!”

“I sent you for milk and coffee and you came back with nine bags of ghost-shaped chocolates!”

“First of all, it wasn’t just chocolate. There were gummies and suckers and tarts, too. Second, it wasn’t just ghosts; there were also witches and pumpkins and monsters. And third — you may look good in black but you look FANTASTIC when you’re in black, and laughing like that.”

Hux stopped laughing, using his sleeve to wipe the tears from his eyes. 

“All fair points. Okay, how about this: we go out and get some food, like you said. Then after we go to the grocery store together. Kinda like our first date.”

“Our first date, huh? So is this one gonna end with torrid sex on the living room couch, too?”

Hux smirked. “Hey, that was our SECOND date, Solo, not our first. What kind of boy do you think I am?”

Ben smiled, reached over, and patted Hux’s hand. “No matter what kind of guy you are, you’re mine. That’s all I care about. Now, what do you want to eat?”

“Well, the old man would be really disappointed if I didn’t honor him by having a big juicy steak and a Guinness, so let’s do that.”

“Deal,” Ben agreed, before pulling out into the sunset.


	4. Chapter 4

“You know that building on Wabert and 3rd? The one that used to be Jerry’s Pizza and Pasta?”

“Yeah?”

“Um ... what if I said, I wanted to ... maybe ... buy it?”

Ben put down the paper, giving Hux his full attention.

“What?”

“What if I said, I was thinking about taking the rest of the money dad left, and investing it into that building?”

“Investing it for —?”

“O-opening up my own restaurant, maybe?”

There was a beat of silence, and then Ben said, “Really?”

It was about two months after Hux had buried his father, and he and Ben had been through a significant change since then.

One evening, out of the blue, Hux had received a little home call from a man calling himself his father’s attorney. He had went on to inform Hux that Brendol had died with a substantial life insurance policy, and that money was now to be remanded to his sole beneficiary, Armitage Hux.

Hux, still grieving, hadn’t really thought much of it at the time. He agreed to meet with the man the next day, but he hadn’t any expectations. Knowing his father, and how frugal he was, ‘substantial’ probably meant anywhere between $5000-$10000.

Which, of course, would be nice. A chance to get ahead on the rent, maybe take Ben on a little vacation or something.

So naturally his eyes crossed and his jaw dropped when, sitting across from a chubby lawyer in a stuffy office, he was informed that he would be receiving “Just short of six hundred thousand dollars, sir.”

“W-what??”

The man glanced down at his paper. “Five hundred and eighty thousand, two hundred sixteen dollars and twelve cents, sir.”

“Um, are you sure you’re not making a mistake?”

“No, no, it’s all correct. His life insurance was for about five hundred thousand, and he left about ten bonds worth around eight thousand a piece.” He sounded vaguely impatient, and Hux had to wonder whether he dealt with amounts this large all the time. “Did you bring the identification and bank information I asked for?”

Hux nodded, taking the items out of his pocket and sliding them across the desk, in a dream-like trance. Because, surely, this HAD to be a dream, right?

“Alright; the money will be deposited into your account within 3 to 5 business days. Add another 3 days for it to clear, and you’re free to spend the money as you please.”

He shook the dazed Hux’s hand, and Hux watched with a kind of detached amusement as the man grabbed a set of golf clubs from behind his door. From changing a man’s life to hitting a little white ball around a flat green surface; lawyers must lead a very interesting life indeed.

When he told Ben what had happened, Ben had started to laugh, clearly thinking it was a joke as well.

But neither man laughed, when Hux checked the balance in his bank account a week later.

“Holy shit,” Ben kept repeating, in a reverent awe. “Ho-ly shit.”

But money or not, Hux was the practical type, and he wasn’t about to waste this opportunity.

So the very first thing he did was, he took some of the money and completely paid off both his and Ben’s school loans ... but that cost less than $75,000 between the two of them (they were fortunate in that the majority of their schooling had been covered by grants). Then he spoke to the landlord, and got him to agree to allow Hux to pay ahead on the rent for the apartment for a full year, and since utilities were included in the rent, that meant the two wouldn’t have any bills to worry about for quite some time. Hux’s car note had been paid off at the beginning of the year, so he went ahead and paid off the rest of Ben’s as well; another burden gone. Between the rent and the cars, another $60,000 gone ... and a pile still left.

“I can’t believe I don’t have a school loan payment anymore,” Ben had said, softly. “And my car? I can’t believe you’d do something so ... so wonderful, for me. Not to mention the rent!”

“You’re a wonderful person to me, my darling dearest one. You deserve to not have to worry for a while. About anything. I almost wish Rey wasn’t at school on that full scholarship; I’d like to do something for her, too.”

“Baby ... you have a generous heart, but this is your money. You should be putting it into something for you.”

“Still ... what about a car? For Rey?”

“Hux —“

“Not anything extravagant! Just, a good, decent, dependable car. A nice one. So that she doesn’t have to be taking the bus around everywhere out there. Please?”

Ben sighed. “You’re spoiling her, you know that?”

“Tell me she doesn’t deserve it, and I won’t do it.”

“Oh ... okay fine. You win.”

When Hux had wired Rey the money and told her what to use it on, she was ecstatic. Not more than 3 days later she was bombarding both of their phones with pictures of her new vehicle; a smart little black Jeep.

“So what are you going to do next?”, Ben has asked him one night, as the two laid in bed.

“I’ve been thinking ... the church has been good to us. I mean, all those charity events we’ve been apart of. And they married us. And Father Towe said that prayer for my dad. I was thinking ... the 4th of July is coming up. What if we volunteered to fund a 4th of July meal? A barbecue, kind of? Maybe some kind of fireworks show for the kids? I mean, people always think that less fortunate people suffer the most in the winter and the cold months, but the summers have gotta be hard, too. People need special events all year to keep the spirit up. We could have it be open to anyone that wants to come, get some food, hang out, and just have a good time.”

Ben smiled. “I think that’s a great idea, actually. Can I man one of the grills? You’ve gotta admit my grilled steaks are out of this world.”

Hux chuckled. “Okay, I’ll give you that; they definitely are. We’ll have steaks, burgers, salad, corn on the cob, chicken, sodas and waters, chips, hot dogs, maybe some fajitas, potato salads — we can buy all the food and supplies ourselves, and hopefully get the church committee to round up some volunteers to help us with everything.”

Going to the store for supplies had been fun. They want to one of those bulk food stores; where you could buy cases and cases of things in large quantities. They bought 6 boxes of 80-count hotdogs, 10 boxes of 40-count thick beef burgers, a ton of buns, more steaks than Ben had ever seen in his life, huge boxes of chicken legs and wings, porkchops, not to mention condiments, peppers and onions, corn, potatoes, eggs, paper plates and napkins, chips, tomatoes, cases of soda ...

“Jesus Christ,” Ben said, as he watched the total skyrocket at the register. “You’re sure we didn’t go a little overboard, here?”

“Considering the Reverend Smith told me that they project at least 200 people to come to this thing — no.”

Between their freezer, the church freezer, the freezer at the restaurant Hux worked at, and several volunteers’, they just barely found a place to store everything, before the 4th.

“Never saw so much meat in my damn life,” Ben commented, after fitting a box into their own freezer. “You’d think we hijacked a slaughterhouse or something.”

“Speaking of ‘meat’ ... those jeans you’re wearing are pretty snug. You trying to show off or something?”

Ben grinned. “Why? Impressed?”

“I don’t know if impressed is the word, here. ‘Turned way the fuck on’ might be a better one.”

“That’s five words, not one.”

“You wanna correct my math now, huh? Okay. You’ve got *five* minutes to get in that bedroom and get those pants off.”

“How about, you’ve got *one* minute to get them off for me?”

Hux grinned and, walking to the bedroom, said,

“Then you’ve got thirty seconds to get mine off. Thirty, twenty-nine, twenty eight, twenty sev—“

— —

“How you doing over there, champ?”

Ben laughed. “My fingers feel like they’re gonna fall off, but I’m good.”

It was the day of the barbecue and Ben, along with five other volunteers, were currently peeling potatoes, pounds and pounds of potatoes, to be exact, for Hux and some others to make potato salad with. The small church kitchen was crammed, with marinating meat, boiling pots, and chopped up vegetables and fruits. They’d even had to rig up several outdoor camper-type ovens in the yard, just to accommodate all that had to be made.

But everyone worked fast, and before they knew it, the celebration was in full swing.

Kids ran around laughing and playing, adults hung around the grills or at the tables, eating and talking and socializing, people were dancing —

“This was one of your best ideas yet, baby,” Ben said to Hux, as the latter flipped a piece of barbecued chicken. “Really. I’ve never seen so many smiling people.”

“We’re lucky it’s so nice out today. I was scared it might rain; you ever notice it almost always rains on the 4th of July?”

“Yeah, by usually not ‘til later, like at night. My mom used to say it’s because of all the fireworks, something about the chemicals irritating the clouds and it raining to clear everything out. Dunno how true that is, but —“

“As good an explanation as any. And look, I told you we didn’t go overboard. We’re more than halfway through the food supply and people are still coming up for stuff!”

“You were right. So, I’ve been holding it in all day , but i have to say it: those shorts are really working for you. You have fantastic legs.”

Hux blushed, and said, “Sir, please stop hitting on me. I’m a married man.”

“I really like the way you handle that meat,” Ben murmured, as Hux flipped another piece of chicken. “So delicate, so tender, dripping with succulent sauce ... really makes me want to put it in my mouth, lick all those juices off.”

“Ben ... you are making me have some REALLY sinful thoughts right now, and at church, of all places. Are you trying to send me to hell?”

“How about you and me slip out to the car real quick and you let me take you to paradise, first?”

“Shit ... Ben ...”

“Okay, okay,” Ben relented, kissing Hux’s cheek. “Save the thought for later, though; it IS the 4th of July, and we’d be downright unpatriotic if we didn’t help each other see some fireworks.”

Now here it was, nearly two weeks after that, and Hux asked this very surprising question to Ben.

“Open your own restaurant?”, he asked now, biting his lower lip. “Are you ... I mean have you ...”

“I’ve talked to an accountant about this, and well —“

Here he paused, nervously rubbing his fingers through his hair. “I know this is a lot to take in, but, I have a meeting today with the property owner. He’s going to show me around the place. Please, come with?”

Ben got up went to Hux, putting his arms around him. “Of course I’ll go. But babe, promise me you won’t sign anything until we talk it over first, okay?”

Hux nodded. “I promise. That’s why I want you to come with.”

“Still ... I can’t wrap my head around it ... a restaurant?”

Hux blushed and nodded. “Yeah. My own place, Sarah’s. I have so many ideas and — okay but I’m not going to get into them until we see the building first.”

“Alright. When’s the meeting at?”

Hux glanced at his watch. “About twenty minutes.”

“Shit,” Ben said, rushing towards the bathroom. “I better brush my teeth, get rid of all the onion ring smell from earlier. Bad breath doesn’t exactly make a good first impression.”

—

“It’s not a huge space, but it’s not diner-sized, either. About 20 tables would fit in here, seating 4 apiece, so we’d have capacity for 80 customers at a time. Maybe more if someday we can add a few tables outside. Perfect for a new, small restaurant, I think,” Hux said, anxiously. “But it’s also cozy. Intimate. With the right lighting, and decorations, this could be a nice place where folks would want to eat. The building inspector gave me an estimate of repairs that would need to be done to bring the building up to code, and surprisingly, it wouldn’t be that expensive.”

It was about an hour after the tour with the property owner, and he had been gracious enough to grant Hux’s request to be left alone in the building for a bit, so that he and Ben could inspect it more closely and talk about it.

“You know what would be cool? A juke-box. You don’t see those anywhere anymore.”

Hux smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind. Anyways, I had that accountant friend of mine run some numbers for me. Dad’s money will be enough to buy the building out-right, take care of repairs, AND buy the kitchen equipment. But for tables, chairs, and what it would cost for the food and vendors, and owner’s insurance, not to mention bills each month for lights and heating and gas and water... I’d likely have to take out a bank loan for that.”

“For how much?”

“Well, it would depend on the type of vendors we get, and insurance rates, things like that. But owning the building out-right provides me with a decent amount of collateral, and of course me and you won’t have any bills, or rent for our own apartment until next year. No car notes either, thank God. Putting away money from your job right now would provide a nice back-up against next year, but we also have to consider that until the restaurant gets up and going, I won’t be able to draw a salary for myself, or at least not a substantial one, until we start turning a big enough profit and the restaurant begins paying for itself. Almost every cent would have to go towards bills, and paying whatever staff I hire. And —“

Here he stopped, and leaned against a wall, folding his arms across his chest.

“But I’m really being selfish,” Hux said, shaking his head. “I’m talking bank loans, our savings, my inheritance, everything. That money dad left ... I should be thinking about putting it towards a home, maybe starting a family. Not risking everything on a stupid pipe-dream. It’s not fair to you, or to us.”

“Okay. Everything you just said ... I’ve never been more convinced that you need to do this.”

“W-what?”

“You NEED to do this. Your dream isn’t a pipe-dream, it’s your life goal. It’s what you’ve always wanted. We’re both young, we’re healthy, and this is the time to try things, and take risks.”

“But —“

“You said we should be thinking about buying a home? Why? I love our apartment, Hux; it’s where I really, REALLY fell in love with you. It’s where I met my sister. And a family should wait until we’re both a little more prepared, and definitely more mature. Especially me.”

“So ... so we’re really doing this?”

“We’re really doing this, baby.”

“You know it’s gonna be a lot of hard work, right? And I’m going to try and save on expenses by doing a lot of things myself, like painting, and moving tables, and cleaning, and —“

“Give me a paintbrush and some old overalls, and we’ll make it work, Hux. Now go get that man back here, tell him we’ll take it.”

Hux gave Ben a joyful kiss, before sprinting out the door. Ben watched him go, smiling because he was happy; but still with a touch of trepidation in his heart.

Could they do this?  
Could they _really_ do this?


	5. Chapter 5

“Are you getting any of that on the wall?”

Ben looked down at his splattered old clothes with a grin. “Some. How’s that menu coming?”

“Really slow,” Hux said, with a sigh. “I’ve got so many ideas; it’s hard to limit them.”

It was two months later, early October, and after all the red tape had been cleared, and they had found a bank willing to take a chance on Hux, Ben and his husband were finally able to begin work on what would soon be known as Sarah’s.

The workers outside the building provided a steady drilling and sawing background to the relatively calm and peaceful dining room, which was what the duo was working on today. Ben was painting (Hux had chosen a cheerful light blue with a black trim for his color scheme), and Hux was taking a break to scribble out ideas for his menu.

“So are you gonna have a kid’s menu?”

Hux nodded. “Yeah. Simple stuff like chicken tenders, cheeseburgers, little pizzas; maybe spaghetti or homemade mac n cheese. Probably grilled cheese, too.”

“If I come in and order off the kid’s menu, are the servers going to look at me funny?”

“Depends on how much of a sense of humor the waiter or waitress has, I guess. Well, when I actually hire some, that is.”

Here he put his head down on the paper with a sigh. “Good Lord, I’ve still got so much to do. We won’t be ready to open until January, and I STILL feel like that’s not enough time to get everything done.”

Ben put down his paint roller, and picked his way around the tarps, to where Hux was. 

“Don’t worry so much,” he said, patting his shoulder. “Things will work out. The workers are on schedule, me and you come in when we’re not at work. YOU leave your job next month, so you’ll have even more time to spend here. Trust me; everything will be fine.”

Hux nodded. “I know. It’s just a little stressful, is all.”

“Hey, if you want to calm down, go breathe in some of that paint thinner real quick. I swear it’ll get you high as fuck in a matter of seconds,” Ben said, teasing him.

Hux chuckled. “Is that what YOU’VE been doing? Because I swear you’ve been painting that same corner for three hours now.”

Ben smirked and made his way back to his paint. “True art takes time, and finesse. Jeez, everyone’s a critic.”

—

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you get so excited over wood before,” Ben said, smirking. Today was a good day; Hux’s tables had finally arrived at the restaurant. They were a beautiful finished mahogany, round, shining and brand-new, with glistening black stemmed four-pronged table bases. Each table came with matching black chairs (2 for small tables, 4 for the larger ones), metal slat-backs with a walnut trim. 

“Ahhh my God; they’re soooo beautiful,” Hux murmured, all but dry-humping one of the larger tables. “Just LOOK at them, Ben! They’re absolutely gorgeous.”

“I’d have to argue that you bent over it like that is even more gorgeous, but okay, you have a point; these are pretty damn nice.”

The opening for Sarah’s was rapidly approaching (only three weeks away), and things were slowly falling into place. The repairs on the building had been finished, Ben and Hux had managed to get everything painted and cleaned, and now the equipment was starting to be delivered.

Yesterday, Hux had received his 2 gas burner stove-ranges, and Ben thought he’d have to forcibly drag him out of the kitchen, with the way he couldn’t stop staring at them. Dishes had come two days before that; dozens of midnight blue, rose-trimmed square plates, with tantalizingly shiny loads of water glasses, wine glasses, spoons, forks, butter and steak knives. While neatly arranging the dishes in the wells, Ben pretended that he dropped a stack, nearly giving Hux a heart attack.

“Hey, so, I never asked; what do you call yourself here? Like, at your job, you were a sous chef. So are you head chef now?”

Hux nodded. “Owner and head-chef. But in reality, for the first few months I’m probably going to be more involved with operations than actual cooking; like going over the books, ordering from and meeting with the vendors, things like that. I’ve gotta hire a sous chef of my own.”

“You’re starting your first interviews later today, right?”

“Yup. That reminds me; I should change out of these dirty clothes. Don’t want people thinking their boss is some kind of slob.”

“How many people are coming in?”

Hux grinned. “One hundred and twenty, between today and the end of the week.”

Ben whistled in admiration. “Seriously, THAT many? Holy shit!”

“It’s thanks to all those ads a certain wonderful man designed and put out all over town,” Hux said, wrapping his arms around Ben.

“Oh, yeah? That IS amazing; you should find that person and give him a kiss.”

“Feels like he’s deserves a little more than a kiss. Feels like he deserves my whole body, heart, and soul.”

“Wow; all that for some paper flyers? Damn, you’re cheap,” he said, teasing him.

Hux pouted and playfully pushed him away. “I may be cheap, but you married me. What does that say about YOU, hm?”

Ben shrugged. “That I know a bargain when I see one?”, he replied, to which both men laughed.

It ended too soon, however, as Hux glanced at his watch and realized how late it was.

“Okay seriously, I’ve got to get my shit organized for these interviews. My last one’s at 5:30, so I’ll be home around 6, okay?”

“Okay,” Ben said, kissing him. “Good luck. Oh and do me a favor, don’t be hiring anybody really hot. I don’t need any competition.”

“Well, actually, there IS this incredibly hot man that I want to hire as my personal assistant/‘stress reliever’, but, sadly, he already has a job.”

“Yeah? Well maybe I can interview for it, then.”

“Fine with me. Meet me in my bedroom, say, 6:30, 7, for an interview. And be sure to dress appropriately.”

“Appropriately, or _inappropriately_?”

“You know, if it makes it easier, don’t dress at all.”

Ben went back to kiss him again, deeper this time. 

“It’s a date,” he murmured when they parted. “Love you, see you later.”

“Love you too, baby.”

— —

Ben leaned back in his chair, trying to subtly loosen up his belt. He had definitely eaten too much; but God, was it worth it.

He was here with one of his co-workers, enjoying opening night at Sarah’s. The place was absolutely packed, so much so that Ben was able to slip in and eat in the dining room for nearly half an hour, without Hux even realizing he was there.

But in all fairness, Hux wasn’t expecting him. Ben had lied and said that he absolutely had to work overtime that night, so he wouldn’t be able to make the big day. Hux had been disappointed, but really, his nerves were so shot that he couldn’t dwell on it too much.

Now, the waitress came over with the check, but, taking a good luck at Ben, she said, timidly, “Um, excuse me, but ... aren’t you the boss’s husband?”

“That’s me.”

“I don’t think he’d want me to be giving you a bill —“, she started, pulling it back. But Ben shook his head and explained, “I’ll pay it. I don’t want to start playing the free food card just yet.”

She chuckled and handed it over. He gave her his credit card. When she came back, he handed her a $20 bill for a tip, and, tearing a little scrap from the bottom of his receipt, wrote something on it.

“Can you do me a favor?”, he asked, when he’d finished. He had spotted Hux standing by the kitchen door, talking with one of his employees. “Can you give this to Hux for me? Only don’t tell him who it’s from, just point out the table after he’s read it.”

The girl smiled, and did as Ben asked , taking the paper to Hux. He unfolded it and read it ((Ben had written “You’re really gorgeous. Call me sometime!” followed by his phone number and a bunch of hearts)), and looked up with a smile, as the girl pointed Ben out to him.

“Ben! You came!”, Hux said now, happily, as he walked over to him. 

“I got off early. Hux, this is my co-worker Veronica. V, this is my husband Hux,” Ben introduced them, and there was no mistaking the subtle tone of pride in his voice, at the word ‘husband’.”

Hux smiled and offered his hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet YOU. I spend hours each day listening to Ben talk about you; it’s refreshing to finally be able to connect a face to the name.”

Hux blushed; he hadn’t expected to hear that.

“So what did you both think?”

Ben folded his arms across his chest. “Well, the service was horrible, the atmosphere is drab, and the food was just a smidge above week-old pizza. And, I’m sorry, but; a juke box?? What is this, the 1950’s? Who’s the owner of this dump? I’d like to have a word with him.”

Veronica lightly smacked Ben’s shoulder. “Seriously? Hux, your food is absolutely amazing. I had the rosemary-garlic chicken and fingerling potatoes, and my God, once I picked up my fork I couldn’t set it down. And that gravy? I almost died it was so good.”

“Thank you so much! I really appreciate that. Oh, fun fact: that gravy is Ben’s mom’s recipe.”

“Wow, really?? Well, it was delicious.”

“She’s right; the GRAVY was good. But she’s just being nice about the other stuff,” Ben said, still teasing Hux.

“And Ben’s the biggest liar ever. First of all, he must have spent an entire roll of quarters running to that juke box to put on a new song every five minutes. And the food? He had the baked mac n cheese, the sticky sesame cauliflower bites, TWO orders of the loaded garlic fries, the chili-butter grilled steak and shrimp, and he STILL begged me until I cut him off a piece of my chicken. He ate so much he’s ready to explode.”

Hux grinned and said, “Please get him out the door before that happens; I don’t think my insurance policy will cover something like that.”

He was about to turn to Ben and say something, when one of his chefs called to him from the kitchen.

“I’ve gotta go. Veronica, I hope I see you around here again. Ben, I think I’ll be here until about 10, so I’ll meet you at home.”

“No, I’ll come back later to drive you home. You shouldn’t be out hailing cabs when it’s so cold out.” Hux had been in a minor fender-bender earlier that week, and his own car at was still being worked on at the shop, hence why he needed transportation to and from work.

“Thanks, babe. Um, the kitchen doors will be unlocked, if you don’t see me right away I’ll probably be in my office.”

He bent down and kissed Ben’s cheek. “Thanks for coming; this was the best surprise ever.”

“Always. Now keep going strong, and good luck!”, Ben said, waving as Hux hurried into his kitchen.

—

Hours later, after the last customer left, the staff had cleared the tables and cleaned, and the ovens were shut down. Only a few employees remained, finishing up the last dishes, and the cleaning of the kitchen.

Hux sat in what he considered his office (really just a small room to the north of the dining room, with a desk and a few chairs), staring into space.

Tonight had been —

“Hey, babe,” Ben said, as he walked in the door. “I’m here to pick you up from school, love.”

Hux stood up and hugged Ben to him tightly.

“You smell good,” Hux murmured, sniffing along Ben’s neck. “And you look hot as hell tonight. If you hadn’t had Veronica with you, I would have put you up on the table and ravaged you in front of the entire restaurant.”

“ _I_ look hot? You’re really sexy in that chef’s coat,” Ben said, putting his arms around Hux’s waist. “Do you have a second to step into the supply closet with me?”

Hux grinned and wrapped his arms around Ben’s shoulders. “The supply closet? What would we be doing in there?”

Ben leaned closed and whispered into Hux’s ear, making the latter blush a dark pink.

“That doesn’t sound very kosher for a restaurant,” he said, biting his lower lip. “But hold on to that thought for later.”

Ben groaned and kissed Hux’s cheek. “You really like making it hard for me, don’t you?”

“Making WHAT hard?”

Ben pressed his lower body close against Hux’s. “Guess.”

Hux was a second away from locking the office door and throwing Ben over his desk; when one of his dishwashers came in with a question, forcing the two to separate.

A short while later, Hux went around the kitchen and shook hands with the staff that was still around, thanking them for their hard work. When the last one was out, he locked the heavy door behind them, setting the security alarm.

“So, in all seriousness ... how was it tonight?”

“It’s hard to gauge. We had a few hiccups in the kitchen, a few table seating mix-ups. And I think I’m already gonna have to replace the second confection oven; the fans don’t circulate quite as well as they should. But, overall ... I think we had a really good opening night.”

Ben smiled, and hugged Hux to him. “I’m so glad. And you know, from where I was sitting — all I could hear all night was people having orgasms over your food.”

“That’s good to know. Hopefully positive word-of-mouth will spread, and we’ll be booked up every night.”

“So have you officially decided on just being open for dinner, then?”

“Oh, no. Tonight was kinda like a half-opening. Starting tomorrow, we’ll open at 10am for lunch, and stay open until we close after dinner. Maybe one day we’ll make enough to be open for all three meals, which would be nice, because I’ve got a lot of ideas for breakfast dishes.”

Ben nodded. “Well, with as great as your food is, Hux, I have no doubts that one day, this place will be the busiest restaurant in the whole city.”

Hux smiled. “Fingers crossed, huh?”

“Fingers crossed. You ready to go?”, Ben asked, pulling his jacket around him as he headed toward the front door.

“I’m ready. Hey, um, Ben?”

Ben turned back around. “Yeah?”

“I’m scared.”

Ben went towards him slowly. “Scared? Of what?”

“Tonight was ... I don’t even have words for it. But I stood there in the kitchen making my food, supervising my cooks, talking to my waitresses and the customers, and it’s like ... this is what I’ve always wanted. This is what I live for; the hot stoves, calling out orders, the adrenaline rush, seeing people’s faces when they take their first bite ... it’s incredible. Earlier I was talking to this couple, had to be in their 80’s at least, and they told me that my place reminds them of a restaurant they used to go to when they first met 50 years ago. The woman told me how comforting it was, to know that places like this still exist. Do you know how much it meant to me, to hear that? So yeah, I’m scared. I’m scared that somehow, I’m gonna fuck this up. That I’ll do something wrong and lose all of this.”

Ben was quiet for a long while, digesting Hux’s words. And then he pulled Hux into his arms, giving him a warm embrace.

“I’m so proud of you, Armitage. I am so, _so_ proud of you. And you know what? This whole thing IS something to be scared of. But you’re facing that fear, and you’re doing it with a smile on your face. And babe, you’re not facing it alone. I’m here with you, and I support you, and I’m going to be by your side, no matter what the future holds. Okay?”

Hux nodded, his face against Ben’s soft neck. “Okay. Thank you, baby. I love you.”

Ben kissed the top of his head before pulling away. “Ditto. Have you eaten at all today?”

“I had some coffee earlier.”

“Well, when we get home, I’m gonna make you my famous grilled cheese and tomato soup a la Leia. Then I’m gonna run you a nice hot bubble bath so you can relax. And THEN I’m gonna carry my Prince to bed, and massage him until he falls asleep. Okay?”

Hux smiled. “What did I ever do to deserve you?”

“I ask myself that same question every single day, about you. Now come on; let’s get home.”


	6. Chapter 6

“So Kira invited is over to dinner this Saturday.”

Hux looked up. It was Wednesday afternoon, between the lunch and dinner rushes. The dining room wasn’t very busy at the moment, so Hux was taking the opportunity to catch up on some of his restaurant’s bills and invoices. Hux’s restaurant had been doing fairly well, since they opened some 5 months ago. He had gained a number of ‘regulars’, and every day, it seemed there were new faces out in the dining room. They weren’t yet making enough to be considered a mega-success; but they were keeping up with bills and expenses, and, for it still being in its first year, that wasn’t bad. Today, Ben had stopped in to see him (and to invoke his free food clause to get some grilled flank steak fajitas, which he was leaning back in his chair and eating).

“Oh yeah?”

“Mm,” Ben said, using one of Hux’s Kleenex’s to dab at the sauce around his mouth. “You remember I told you Rey made the dean’s list at school? Well I guess Kira wanted to celebrate with a nice meal, and to surprise Rey by having us show up.”

“Sounds good,” Hux said, his face still buried in his papers. “Ask Kira for me if she wants me to make a cake or something for dessert.”

“Nope,” Ben said, grinning. “She was very specific and told me to tell you that you work hard all day cooking for others, so let someone else cook for a change.”

Hux smiled. “That’s sweet. So Rey’s home for good now?”

“You mean for summer break? Yeah. She goes back in September, I think.”

“She have any plans?”

Ben shrugged. “I don’t think so. She was telling me she wanted to get a summer job, though. She’s not looking for a lot; just some extra cash, and something to keep her occupied so she’s not sitting at home twiddling her thumbs all summer.”

“Well, why don’t you tell her to come in here and see me?” Hux said, turning another page. “One of my waitresses just gave me her two weeks because she’s moving. I mean this isn’t glamorous, but like you said, it’s extra cash, and keeping occupied. If Rey can smile and balance a tray, she’s in.”

“Really? Oh, I’m sure she’d love that!”

“It’ll be nice having a familiar face around here. And you know what? She’s so cute that I bet she’ll make a killing in tips.”

“What about me? How would I make out in tips?”

Hux grinned. “Depends on the customer. If you were serving me ... let’s just say I’d have a substantial ‘tip’ for you. And not just the tip, either.”

Ben bit his lower lip. “You know I’m happy to serve you anytime. Unfortunately, I’m running a little late for work.”

“You work now? It’s like 2; I thought you were off today.”

“I was, but my boss called; he wants to start a new project on Monday but that means I’ll have to really push to get all my files done by Sunday night. So I’ll be going in a little extra this week.”

“Well, good luck, babe. Have fun. Will you be home for dinner? I’ll be back by about 9:30 tonight.”

“I’ll be home by 10 at the latest.”

“Our special tonight is a spicy pulled-pork sandwich with gravy and mashed potatoes. I’m making it, not Renato; I’d rather be cooking than behind this desk all day. You want me to bring some home for you?”

“Oh my god that sounds amazing. Yes, please!”

“Will do,” Hux said, standing up. “Have a good day, alright? Loves you,” he said, kissing him.

“Loves you too. Good luck tonight, have a good service.”

—

“Sorry to bother you; Hux?”

“Yes?”

“I have a lady and a little girl at the front door. They want to know if they can have a glass of water. I thought it was okay, but Marla said I should get your permission first.”

Hux got up and peeked outside of his door, to see for himself. A woman and a small child stood at the podium, obviously nervous. Despite it being a scorching July afternoon, both were wearing sweaters and long pants, and each had backpack on their back.

“That’s all they asked for? Water?”

Rey nodded. “Yeah. She started to count out change from her pocket but I told her water is free. She ... she doesn’t seem like she has a lot of money.”

Hux looked again. The woman was leaning down beside the girl now, talking quietly to her. The woman was obviously trying to be cheerful, but her eyes ... she seemed so _tired_.

“Are we very busy right now?”

“No. The lunch rush came and went. All we have now are a few straggler tables.”

“Show them to a table,” Hux said, quietly. “Tell them to order anything, it’s on the house. And bring the kid one of those coloring books, please.”

Rey smiled, and left to do as told. She had been working for Hux for nearly a month now, and she loved it. She liked meeting so many different kinds of people, and making new friends among the staff. Hux had created a lovely working environment for his employees, and had fostered an air of openness, honesty, and communication. And he wasn’t one of those bosses who stayed hidden behind a desk all day; he was willing to pitch in and help anywhere, be it cooking, or washing dishes, or wiping down tables. Once one of his waitresses had a small emergency and wouldn’t be able to make her shift on time, so Hux actually put on a waiter’s apron and took orders out in the dining room, covering for her until she’d arrived.

Rey had told him from the beginning that she didn’t want preferential treatment, just because she was Hux’s sister in law. Luckily for Rey, Hux pretty much treated EVERYONE like family, anyway.

About twenty minutes after Rey had come to tell him about the woman and child, Hux got up and ventured another peak out of his office window, and smiled.

The child was elbows-deep in a fat cheeseburger (Renato had made her an adult-sized, rather than the standard children’s menu size) a mountain of crispy seasoned fries, and a huge chocolate milkshake; and she didn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. The lady was enjoying her food as well, but to Hux, it appeared she was enjoying seeing her daughter eat even more.

He subtly called Rey back into his office, and said,

“Make sure they see the dessert menu as well. Again, anything they want. Bring me the bills when they’re done so I can comp them.”

Rey smiled and said, “You don’t need to do that, boss,” she said, pulling a folded wad of bills from her apron pocket. “The other girls and I ... well, here,” she said, holding it out to him. “I’ve already totaled the bill for dinner; this should cover that, plus dessert.”

Hux hesitated to take it. “You all don’t have to do that ...”

“And you could have told the lady and her daughter to leave, but you didn’t,” Rey told him, placing the money on his desk. “Besides, everyone’s tips have been really good today.”

Hux finally accepted the money. “Nobody can ever say I don’t have an incredible staff.”

Rey smiled. “You know, boss, you have a pretty big heart. I wish my brother had married someone like YOU instead of that selfish loser he got hitched to.”

Hux smirked and gave Rey a playful shove out the door. “Yeah, yeah; get out of here.”

—

“Hux, the lady’s done eating, and she says she’d like to speak to you.”

Hux got up and went out into the dining room. The child, stuffed from her meal, had her head down on the table, sound asleep. 

Before Hux could say a word, the woman was out of her seat, and her arms were around Hux.

“I don’t know who you are, or why you chose to help us, but thank god that you did. I was at the end of my rope; all I had were a handful of graham crackers in my bag.”

Hux hugged her back, gently patting her back. “It’s my pleasure. Your daughter is absolutely beautiful. What’s her name?”

“Thank you,” the lady replied, sitting back down. Hux sat in the spare seat across from her. “Her name is Anna. Mine is Cherry.”

“Sherrie?”

“No, _Cherry_ ,” she corrected, laughing. “Cherry Pie Hansen. Like the food.”

“Really? I love that!”

She blushed. “The consequences of having a mother who blanked on baby names at the hospital, and could only think to name her kid after the last thing she ate.”

“So, are you from around here?”

Cherry shook her head. “No. We’re from Virginia. We followed my boyfriend, Anna’s father, out here. Then he walked out and left us. I’ve been having a hard time since then. We were able to stay with my boyfriend’s aunt for awhile, but she has a large family of her own, and made it more than clear she couldn’t afford to feed us or keep us forever.”

“Do you have a job?”

Cherry shook her head. “No. I’ve looked and looked but can’t find anything. I never graduated high school, and I’m afraid I don’t have much of a skill set.”

Here she paused, and gave a little laugh. “Do you know what I wanted, when I was young? I wanted to write for screenplays the movies. Stupid dream, right?”

“No dream is stupid. And it’s hard, being new in town and not knowing where to go.”

Hux pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket.

“I’m going to write you the name and address of this church, they provide beds at night and dinner. I’ll give you the cab fare to get there; when you do, talk to either Father Towe or Reverend Smith. Both nice men, and they can provide you with more resources, like how to go on emergency food assistance and temporary housing. There’s also programs for free childcare. Once you get that settled, if you don’t mind being on your feet, and the smell of food, come back here. There’s always room at Sarah’s for a smart, friendly person.”

“A-are you being serious?”

Hux nodded. “We’re not very glamorous, but we offer competitive wages, health insurance, tips, and one free meal per shift, either to eat here or take home. So once you’ve got yourself and your daughter settled, come back in, and come talk to me. Okay?”

“Thank you, thank you,” the woman said, in tears. “You’re so kind ... I have no idea how I can ever repay you for this!”

“You don’t have to do that. But tell you what; if you do make it to Hollywood, and you do start writing for the movies, feature my restaurant in a scene. Get some devastatingly handsome redhead to play me.”

She smiled and hugged him again, “It’s a deal.”

After seeing Cherry and Anna into a cab, Hux walked slowly back into the restaurant. He suddenly felt tired, and, for some reason, he had an overwhelming urge to see —

“Renato,” Hux said as he went into the kitchen, talking to his sous chef. “If I left early, do you think you can handle the dinner rush and closing?”

Renato smiled and nodded. “I sure can, Boss. You go on home, get some rest. Want me to make you something to take with you?”

Hux shook his head. “That’s okay. See you tomorrow,” he said.

As he headed out the kitchen door, he nearly ran into Rey, who was carrying a tray of empty dishes in. 

“I’m leaving early,” he told her, as he held the door for her. “Love you, see you tomorrow.”

Rey smiled. “See you tomorrow, boss.”

When Hux walked into the apartment, he stood for a moment in the doorway, smiling. 

Ben was on the couch, sitting cross-legged, his laptop on his knees. He had several papers filled with numbers spread around him; clearly, he had been working on some of his coding files.

And he was sound asleep.

Hux tiptoed quietly over to him, leaned over the back of the couch, and kissed his forehead. Ben woke up with a start, his reflexes just barely quick enough to catch his laptop before it fell to the floor.

“What the — oh, Hux,” he said, setting his computer on the coffee table and yawning. “Geez, is it 10 already?”

“Nope. I came home early.”

Ben tilted his head back, looking at Hux with mild alarm. “Why? Are you feeling sick or something?”

Hux sat down beside Ben, moving several papers out of the way before leaning against him. “Yeah; _homesick_. I missed you, baby.”

Ben blushed and smiled, putting an arm around Hux. “I missed you too.”

“Did you have dinner yet?”

Ben shook his head. “I’ve been working on this crap since 10 this morning.”

“Sounds like you need a break, too. You want to order a pizza, watch some movies?”

Ben smiled and kissed the top of Hux’s head. “It’s a deal — but only if we get breadsticks AND wings, too. It’d be uncivilized if we didn’t.”

“I completely agree,” Hux said, grinning as he pulled his cellphone out of his pocket. “And if we don’t get a two liter of soda, then, well, we’re no better than animals.”


	7. Chapter 7

Time has a way of rushing by when you’re busy, and before Ben and Hux knew it, it was fall. Rey had gone back to school (with Hux making her an open offer that she could come back anytime, for any length of time, as a ‘temporary worker’, much to Rey’s delight), and Hux was busier than ever at Sarah’s.

And ‘busy’ was an understatement.

About a month before Rey had left, a man walked into Sarah’s, and revealed himself to be one obnoxious customer. He made ridiculous demands on the staff, he was rude, he made very specific and difficult adjustments to his food orders. After noticing how hard Patty (the waitress serving the man) was struggling to keep the smile on her face, Hux stepped in himself, taking care of the man’s requests on his own.

He hadn’t thought much about it after that; after all, you’re bound to get a bad customer every now and again, it was just part of the business.

But what Hux didn’t know ...

... was that the man was actually an extremely prominent and well-known food and restaurant critic, one who preferred to do his reviews undercover. One of Hux’s dishwashers had alerted him to a review up on their city’s Dining Reviews website, and Hux and his staff were flabbergasted, as Hux read out-loud:

**_“It’s always been my opinion that small, family-oriented restaurants went out of fashion at the turn of the century. People in this day and age prefer modern, flashy, and have a disdain for extended personal interactions with others. I’ve always held the belief that eating establishments who still practice this outdated mode of operation are doomed to fail._ **

**_However, last night, my pre-conceived notions on this matter were shattered entirely._ **

**_The Restaurant: Sarah’s. The owner: A man named Armitage Solo. My grade: A+._ **

**_For the first time in my life, I find myself wishing that there was a letter BEFORE the letter “A”. Something that conveys excellent on top of excellence._ **

**_The food was superb, and the staff made tremendous efforts to alter my food to my (admittedly overboard) demands and specifications. Although my behavior was rude and abdominal, my waitress never lost the smile on her face, or even let a moticon of annoyance or anger slip into her tone of voice (although she had every viable reason to)._ **

**_And the owner. The owner saw me abusing his staff, and instead of telling them to “Just smile and take it”, he stepped in himself to take care of me, much like a concerned father shields his child from the playground bully._ **

**_In short, Sarah’s is a place that I, as well as my family, will be frequenting time and time again. And I strongly suggest my readers take themselves and their loved ones there as well. If not for the food, then for the atmosphere. If not for the atmosphere, then for the food, as, once again, it was delicious._ **

**_Only don’t be a jerk, the way I was._ **

“Holy hell, babe,” Ben had said, when Hux showed him the copy of the review he had printed out. “That’s incredible. If you don’t get a few new customers out of THAT, then something’s wrong with the system.”

But Hux didn’t get a few new customers.

He got a LOT, of new customers.

The restaurant was packed now, lunch and dinner, on a consistent basis. And Hux was spending more and more time there, to help his staff and to run operations. Food vendors now came twice a week instead of just once, and Hux would often go into Sarah’s as early as 6am for deliveries ... and end up staying long past their 9pm closing.

And Ben ... was happy for him, of course.

Happy ... but lonely.

He didn’t want to bother Hux with his feelings, as Hux clearly had enough to be dealing with; but to Ben, it was like the two barely saw each other anymore. Most days Hux was gone before Ben woke up, and didn’t come back home into Ben was in bed for the night. They texted each other throughout the day, of course ... but it just wasn’t the same.

Still, though; this whole thing was Hux’s _dream_. He’d been talking about this before he and Ben had even had their first kiss. How could Ben say anything negative about something that was such a positive light in Hux’s life?

He couldn’t.  
So he didn’t.

After all, things couldn’t go on like this forever. Once the restaurant started earning a substantial profit, once Hux could make headway on paying back his bank loans, then finally, he would feel comfortable enough to relax, and take a step back from operations. And spend more time at home, with Ben.

The extra customers and late hours were only expediting this to happen, so all be had to do was sit back and endure it.

Smile, and endure.  
So he did.

The thing Ben missed most of all, perhaps unsurprisingly, was Hux cooking for him. But not so much the food itself, as the atmosphere. Ben sitting at the kitchen table, Hux at the stove, each laughing and joking and flirting and telling each other about their days —

Hux would always bring Ben home a meal from the restaurant, and the food was tasty, of course ... but it just wasn’t the same. Standing in the kitchen by himself and heating up a container of food that he wasn’t even sure that Hux made himself, or if it was one of his cooks, just wasn’t the same.

And something else that bothered Ben ...

Hux and his staff — they were like a little family, almost. They were around each other all day, they hung out outside of work, they had inside jokes and they shared this tight comradery that Ben couldn’t be apart of. And then Hux would come home and talk about things that Ben really didn’t understand, and that in turn made Ben feel even more isolated from his husband’s world.

And what did Ben have to tell Hux about his own job?

Ben was doing extremely well in his job. The money he was making now was good, and he was poised to climb the ladder and receive a huge promotion (and a nice salary increase) within a few months. But while Ben loved what he did (reading through code, programming, debugging, troubleshooting), even he had to admit it didn’t sound that exciting when talking about it to others.

How could his story about writing a new program for the company’s payroll department compete with Hux’s story about the group of traveling performers who came in and juggled all of Hux’s glass dining ware without breaking a single item? 

Or was Ben’s story about finding and removing a computer virus as good as Hux’s about the man who bought two scratch-off tickets at a gas station, won $10,000 ON EACH, and decided to bring his entire family in to Hux’s for ‘the best damn pork chops, biscuits, and gravy in the world’? They had had to set up picnic tables outside to accommodate this group, and at the end, each of Hux’s waitresses were blessed with a $200 tip.

But there was no way in heaven, hell, or the earth in-between that Ben would ever say any of this to Hux. Hux was happy, and living his dream; and that was all that mattered to Ben.

Even if it seemed like he hardly saw Hux anymore.

Even if Ben legitimately couldn’t remember the last time they’d shared a meal together, or went to bed at the same time, or were even intimate with each other.

Hux was happy.  
And it was what mattered.

—

“So, I had a customer come in and talk to me about a possible private event they want to hold here.”

“Really?”

Hux nodded. It was mid-November, and Hux had just gotten home. He found Ben still awake, so he decided to talk to him.

“Yeah. They’re getting married on Thanksgiving day, and I guess they want to knock out two birds with one stone by having a reception/thanksgiving dinner at Sarah’s. It’ll be small; they told me 40 guests tops, so they’d only fill about half the restaurant.”

“Would you make any money? I mean, would it be worth it to open the place up and stuff?”

“I ran the numbers, and, all things accounted for, we’d actually be turning a nice little profit.”

“What about the staff? I thought you said you’d be closed Thanksgiving so they could be home with their families?”

“I had a meeting with them earlier, and explained the situation. I made it clear that if they worked on Thanksgiving, it would be on a volunteer-only basis, and they’d be paid double overtime. 10 people volunteered, and I think that’s more than enough to cover a guest list of just 40 people.”

“That’s great! But then why do you sound so hesitant about it?”

“Because ... it’s Thanksgiving, Ben. A time for family. YOU’RE my family; I should be spending it with you. Plus I ... I know how hard this time of year is for you, and I wouldn’t want to leave you alone like that.”

“Hux, don’t be worrying about me. You go ahead and do this; this sounds like a really good business opportunity for you.”

“Are you absolutely positive?”

“I’m absolutely positive. Plus, you know, if this gig turns out well, it could lead to more like it, and that would be nice, right?”

“Ben, I don’t want you to ever feel like ... like I prioritize making money over you. You know that, right? You know how much I love you, and —“

Ben stopped him with a kiss. “I know, I know! You’re such an over-thinker. It’s just one day. Promise you’ll bring me home some leftovers and I’ll be just fine.”

“You’re positive?”

Ben nodded, giving Hux a warm hug.

“I’ll be fine, trust me. Go make that bread, baby. Figuratively and literally.”

Hux laughed and wrapped his arms around Ben’s shoulders. “Hey, speaking of bread ... you seem pretty awake right now. You feel like buttering my buns for me?”

“That was possibly the clumsiest sex metaphor I’ve ever heard, Hux. But, as tempting as that sounds ... I’m gonna have to take a rain check. I’m really tired.”

Hux seemed surprised (it wasn’t like Ben to ever turn down Hux’s advances), but he simply nodded and kissed Ben’s cheek. “Yeah, I guess I am too. I’m gonna take a shower, okay?”

Ben nodded, and Hux went into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

In spite of everything he’d told Hux, Ben WAS somewhat disappointed, that they wouldn’t be spending Thanksgiving together. 

But this was a good opportunity for Sarah’s, and Ben wouldn’t let his neediness stand in the way of that.

But he also knew that if Hux came back out and started to talk again, Ben wouldn’t be able to hold his true feelings in, and Hux would undoubtedly decide to turn the people down.

So when he heard the water shut off, he quickly laid down on his side and pretended to sleep.

After a few moments, the pretending became a reality.

—

Ben sat in the car, feeling somewhat impatient. It was Thanksgiving, and, seeing as how Hux’s car was acting up again, Ben had had to drive him to and from work. His spirits were low, and all he wanted to do was get home and go to bed. 

He let out a loud sigh when Hux texted him and asked him to come inside and wait, as Hux wasn’t quite finished with clean-up after the reception yet.

So Ben shut off the car and walked around to the back doors, hunching inside of his jacket against the cold air.

But when he got inside ...

... all of the lights in the restaurant were turned off, except for one table in the dining room, where two candles, a vase with a single rose in it, and several dishes of food adorned it’s top.

“What is all this?”

“Well, I thought maybe, you’d be interested in a little dinner with me,” Hux said, smiling. He went to Ben’s chair and pulled it out for him. “Please, join me?”

Ben sat. On the table was a bowl of creamy-looking mashed potatoes, a runner of gravy, some stuffing, cranberry sauce, a small bowl of dark sauce that he didn’t recognize, and ... and ...

“Oh my God ... you made beef wellington! You actually made it!”

Hux nodded. “Took me half an hour just to get the dough right, but I think it turned out okay.”

He scooted his chair close to Ben’s, cut into one of the wellington’s, poured a bit of the dark liquid (which turned out to be a red-wine sauce) over it, and held his fork to Ben’s lips. “Try it.”

Ben opened his mouth, and immediately bit into soft, savory goodness.

“Oh, Hux ... this is the best thing I’ve ever tasted!”

Hux cut him another piece and again held it to his lips. “Good. But I’m willing to bet that it doesn’t compare to the best thing I’VE ever tasted.”

“What’s that?”

Hux leaned over and kissed him, softly. “Your lips. You’re a flavor all your own, my darling.”

The two continued to flirt and feed each other bits of food, but just as Ben was really starting to relax and enjoy himself, Hux’s phone suddenly went off.

He quickly pulled it out and looked at it. “Oh, shit; it’s Frank, my wine supplier. I have to take this; be back in a sec!”

Hux stood up and began walking away from the table. “Hello? Yes it’s me. I — what?? What do you mean your shipment will be two days late? Do you have any idea how short supply I am right now?? Well can’t you just get —“

Hux’s voice could be heard all the way in the kitchen, and from the way he was talking, it didn’t seem like he would be finished anytime soon. 

So Ben just sat and quietly finished the rest of his food by himself.

Just like every other night.


	8. Chapter 8

“Hux, there’s this older man out front. He’s insisting he has to see you. He’s ... a little odd.”

“Oh, Jesus, what now?”, Hux asked, sighing to himself. He got up and followed Bernadette out to the man in question ... and his face lifted into a wide smile.

“Luke!”, he exclaimed, throwing his arms around the older man. “I can’t believe it! It’s been _forever_!”

Luke hugged him back warmly. “Well, a little black-haired birdy told me that nephew #2 opened up his own place, so I had to come see for myself.”

It was about three weeks before Christmas, and cold out. The weather channel gleefully informed it’s viewers that they were experiencing “some of the lowest temperatures we’ve seen for this time of year since 1972”.

In truth, Hux wasn’t looking forward to the upcoming holiday itself so much as he was to having a break from everything. He was closing the restaurant Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and he found himself daydreaming constantly about spending some time with Ben.

Not that Ben seemed too eager to spend time with him, lately ...

... or maybe that was just Hux’s imagination. 

But it felt like, these past few weeks, Ben had become incredibly quiet, and somewhat withdrawn. With Hux working so many hours, they didn’t see each other for very long each day, but when they did, it was like Ben had pushed himself into his own world. He barely spoke, he didn’t make his usual jokes or innuendoes, and he seemed tired all the time, even during the day.

Still; maybe this was all just a product of Hux’s weary mind.

“I was so disappointed that you couldn’t make our wedding,” he said to Luke now, sitting down with him at one of the empty tables. “It really was a beautiful ceremony.”

“I know, kid. I tried to convince my group to leave the retreat earlier, but no success. I’m proud of you both, though.”

“Proud?”

Luke nodded. “Yes. It seems like a lot of people yours and Ben’s ages no longer hold any kind of value in the concept of getting married. A lot treat it like an outdated institution. But personally I’ve always thought the idea of tying your life to another person to be quite spiritual, and transcendent. And I’m happy my nephew is on this particular journey with you, Armitage.”

“I’m happy too, Uncle. Ben makes me happier than I ever thought possible.”

The waitress came over to them, and Luke asked for a bowl of rotini and chicken soup.

“Just soup? Really?”, Hux asked when she’d left.

Luke patted his belly. “Sadly I gained about 20 pounds since you last saw me. My doctor says I need to drop the extra baggage.”

They talked for a long while while Luke slowly ate, catching each other up on their lives. At Hux’s insistence, Luke ordered a piece of apple pie for dessert, and, with his first bite, his eyes went wide.

“This ... this tastes exactly like my sister’s pie! She’s the only one I ever knew who put cardamom and buttermilk in apple pie. I taste both.”

Hux smiled. “It should taste like hers; Ben was gracious enough to let me use some of her recipes for dishes here.”

“Well, now I’m really going to have to start coming more often,” Luke said, before taking another bite.

Altogether, his total came out to less than $10. He opened up his wallet and put a twenty on the table, much to Hux’s disdain.

“Come on, Luke; you’re family. It’s on the house.”

Luke smiled, but he didn’t pick his bill back up. “Thank you, my dear nephew. Then, please make sure my waitress gets that. All of it. Tell her that her sweetness warmed my entire day.”

Hux chuckled and picked it up, to give to Bernadette. “Alright, I will. Now I expect you to drop by again, okay? Menu changes all the time, what with specials and holiday themes. You might find something else you like.”

“I’ll be sure and do that, son.” He stood you and embraced Hux warmly. “You take care, and give my love to Benny, okay?”

Hux nodded. “Will do. Love you, uncle.”

“Back at ya, kid.”

— —

“So you actually like it, huh?”

“It’s pretty fun, really. The people I work with are really friendly. Plus I make some pretty good tips. I’ll be a little sad when I have to go back to school again.”

“Me, too,” Ben said, reaching out and patting her arm. “I like having you home. How’s your mom?”

It was a week later, and Rey, home on her winter break, braved the cold to venture to Ben’s workplace to have lunch with him. They chose a little cafe about a block from Ben’s job, and Ben was asking Rey about work (she was once again working as a ‘temporary’ waitress at Sarah’s).

“Mom’s good. Actually ... a little better than good. She’s _dating_ someone, can you believe it?”

“Really? That’s pretty cool. She’s a nice woman; she shouldn’t stay lonely.”

“I know. And I met the guy. He’s big and tall, kinda like a giant teddy bear. But he’s super nice. He grouted and re-tiled mom’s shower for her. She was after daddy to do that for FOREVER,” Rey explained, laughing.

“Sounds like Han. I remember when I was 5, my first day of school, I tripped going out the door on this loose floorboard Han was supposed to nail down. Blood all over my new shirt and I lost one of my front teeth. My mom was SO angry,” Ben recalled, chuckling at the memory.

“Geez, that sounds awful.”

“Eh, not so bad. Apparently the ‘tooth fairy’ felt bad about my accident, and left a $10 bill under my pillow, instead of a quarter. Do you know how much candy a kid could buy with $10 back then? Like winning the lottery.”

Rey laughed at that, and Ben took the opportunity to signal the waiter so that they could order dessert.

“So ....”, Ben began, pushing his ice cream around with his spoon, “How’s HUX doing at the restaurant? I don’t get over there a lot, so I don’t really get many chances to see him in action.”

“To be honest I hardly see Hux when I’m there. He mostly stays in the kitchen cooking or supervising, or in his office. But when he IS out, he seems good. Like, happy.”

“Happy? That’s good. This restaurant is such a big thing for him; it’s good that he’s enjoying himself with it.”

Here he looked up at Rey and said, almost casually, “I sure miss him a lot now, though.”

“What do you mean? You see him every day, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but ...he’s busy a lot now. Sometimes he’s literally at the restaurant all day, from deliveries at 5 or 6am until after closing. Which I get, you know. He’s a very hands-on person and he likes to be around to control everything, make sure things are running smoothly. And then when he comes home he’s so tired, so I try not to bother him so he can relax and unwind.”

Rey was quiet for awhile, before saying, timidly, “Why don’t you ask him to come home earlier, or maybe wait to go in until a little later?”

But Ben immediately shook his head at that. “I can’t do that. How selfish would I sound asking him to blow off his restaurant just because I’m a little lonely?”

“It’s not selfish. And Hux loves you, Ben. You should see his office; it’s just wall-to-wall pictures of the two of you. But Hux, from what you’ve told me, it seems like he gets a little wrapped up in things sometimes. Maybe he’s so focused on this one thing that he just genuinely doesn’t see that you need more of his attention.”

Ben shrugged. “I guess. I don’t know.”

“Well, I DO know. Talk to him, okay? Nothing will change unless you speak up and say something.”

Ben nodded. “You’re right. Okay, then, in the spirit of that, Rey; that dress you’re wearing is way too low-cut. The waiter’s eyes nearly fell out of his head, staring at you.”

Rey blushed and said, “It’s not THAT bad, Ben. And you can’t tell me how to dress; I’m not a little kid!”

“You’re not a little kid but I’m still your big brother, and it’s my right, to make sure none of these perverts are staring at you.”

Rey chuckled and pulled her sweater over her, buttoning it up. “Fine, Big Brother. Better?”

“Much. Now I won’t have to kill that guy before we leave,” he joked, setting them both to laughing.

When he was home later, he sat on the couch and really thought about what Rey had said, about Hux.

Rey’s advice had been good, but in the end, Ben knew that he just couldn’t bring himself to follow it, and confront Hux with his feelings. 

But later that night, he sure was tempted to.

Hux was dropped off by one of his employees, and all but staggered through the doorway. Ben, thinking maybe he was sick, rushed to help him ... only to be met with the sour reek of alcohol.

“Jeez, did you get into the kitchen’s wine supply or what?”, Ben asked, fanning the air around him as Hux’s liquor breath hit him full in the face.

“Of course not. But after we closed I went to have a drink at that bar down the road from Sarah’s, with some staff.”

“You ... went drinking?”

“Not really _drinking_ ; it was just one drink. Well, two. But still.”

Struggling to control himself, Ben said, slowly, “I told you I got off early. You said you couldn’t come home because you had a lot to do still. But ... you went drinking? And you didn’t think to tell me?”

Hux kicked off his shoes and leaned back on the couch, putting his arm over his face. “Didn’t know I needed your permission, _dad_.”

“That’s not it. Do you even get the point I’m making here? I asked you to come home, but you went out with your staff instead. How am I supposed to take that?”

“Bennnnnn. Stop busting my balls. It was _one_ , no, _two_ drinks. Today was a long day. I’m not allowed to relieve stress?”

Instead of arguing his case further, Ben just let all of the fight in him drop away, leaving a calm facade behind.

“I had a long day too. I’m gonna grab a shower then go to bed. ‘Night,” he said, before turning and walking away.

“Wait ... Benny ...”

But Ben firmly closed the door behind himself, shutting off whatever Hux had been going to say.

— —

“Are you coming to bed soon? It’s almost 1 in the morning, babe.”

Hux looked up. It was the week before Christmas, and Hux was sitting at the desk in the corner of the living room, writing out ideas on New Year’s themed dishes that he wanted to put on the menu, for when January came. He was also going over his list of vendors; last months bills for meat and bread had been high, and Hux was doing research on whether he could get the same amount of goods from somewhere else, but for a cheaper price.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can. I just want to finish going over these last few papers.”

“Did you eat anything earlier? You want me to make you a sandwich or something? Not good to sleep on an empty stomach.”

Hux shook his head. “I’m fine. But thank you.”

Instead of leaving right away, Ben came and leaned against the window by Hux’s seat, facing him.

“So I haven’t had a chance to ask yet ... how’s Rey working out on the temporary gig? She told me she’s having fun, but what do you think?”

“She’s fantastic. Fast, friendly, funny. You can tell the diners just love her. A lot of them even remembered her from when she was here in the summer. You’d probably have a heart attack if you ever came in while she’s working though.”

“Huh? Why?”

Grinning, Hux explained, “She’s pretty popular with my male waiters. And male dishwashers. And male cooks. And —“

“Okay, okay,” Ben said, groaning as he covered his eyes. “Jeez. She’s okay though, right? I mean, none of these assholes are like, grabbing her butt or anything?”

Hux frowned. “Do you honestly think I’d stand by and let that happen? She’s MY sister, too, you know!”

“I know. Just making sure.”

“The last thing I’d allow at my place is sexual harassment, or anything inappropriate like that.”

“Speaking of which — what about Jerrod?”

“Huh?”

“Jerrod. What about him?”

Jerrod was somebody that Hux had hired several weeks ago, as a host. But it had quickly gone into more than that, with Jerrod learning and filling in for any and every position that he could. 

This past month, Hux’s car had been acting funny again (Ben was honestly in favor of just scrapping the damn thing and getting him a new car, but Hux insisted they just couldn’t afford it right then) so more often than not, he would take the bus to the restaurant in the morning, and Ben would pick him up after dinner shift.

Ben would go in, sit at a table, have a soda, and wait patiently for Hux to finish up. And he had really started to take notice of this Jerrod guy, who seemed just a bit too friendly towards Hux for Ben’s liking.

“I don’t understand what you’re —“

“Jerrod’s pretty touchy-feely with you, isn’t he? You seem to allow THAT, even though it’s a tad bit inappropriate.”

Hux blinked, completely taken aback by Ben’s statement.

“Are you being serious right now, or are you joking?”

“Hux. It’s obvious to anyone with eyes, babe: dude has a crush on you. He’s always staring at you with those goo-goo eyes.”

“Does he? Ben, seriously, I’ve _never_ noticed this.”

“I don’t see how you couldn’t have. But okay, are you going to put him in his place? I mean, have you told him to back off, because you’re a married man? Or is something so wrong with his eyes that he doesn’t see the ring on your finger?”

Hux put his papers down completely, taking off his glasses. “Ben ... where is this coming from? And what do you mean, put him in his place? He hasn’t done anything!”

“So standing super close to you when he’s talking to you isn’t doing anything? Constantly putting his hand on your arm, laughing at your horrible jokes, always volunteering to ‘stay late’ with you ... that’s not doing anything?”

“Horrible jokes? You realize I get all of my jokes from YOU, right?”, Hux said, attempting to lighten the mood.

But it didn’t work on Ben.

“I’m not kidding, Hux. Every time I come in there, that guy is practically hanging all over you. I think maybe it would be a good idea for you to have a talk with him about professional boundaries.”

What came out of Hux’s mouth next could have been attributed to a lot of things. The late hour, the stress over the bills, the cold weather, his headache, Ben’s out-of-left-field accusations, or Hux just being so completely exhausted. 

“I think it would be a good idea for YOU to mind your own business about MY employees, Ben. Jerrod is just a nice young man, and a hell of a hard worker. I’m not going to ‘have a talk with him’ about some paranoid nonsense that you’ve completely made up in your own head. And to be honest, I don’t need this right now; I’ve got enough on my mind as it is.”

“Fine,” Ben replied, angry. “Do whatever you want, Hux; I don’t care.”

He turned to go but before he was out of the room Hux said behind him,

“If that wasn’t the biggest display of the pot calling the kettle black, I don’t know what is.”

Ben turned back around. “Excuse me?”

“I just find it funny; you’re passively-aggressively accusing me of, what, infidelity? Is that the point you’re driving at? But have I ever once said anything to you about Veronica?”

“ _Veronica_?? What the hell does she have to do with anything?!”

“So I’m not imagining that you bring her to Sarah’s to eat at least once a week? You think I can’t hear her laughing at YOUR ‘horrible jokes’ all the way back in my office? You think I haven’t noticed how she’s hanging on your arm when you come in, how she’s constantly leaning across the tables touching your shoulder, smiling at you, giving you little hugs? If you gave that girl a nod, she’d probably get on her knees and suck you off under the table. All of that, but I’ve never once accused you of doing ANYTHING inappropriate with her. And that’s because I fucking TRUST you, Ben! I’m just sorry you don’t have that same trust in me. I really am.”

“Veronica, is my FRIEND. She’s somebody that I can talk to. And we both have a lot in common; her husband is in the army, she hadn’t seen him for months, either.”

“What do you mean, either? We see each other every day! I’m looking directly at you right now!”

“Okay, fair point; the word ‘see’ doesn’t apply here. So I’ll use some other ones; she hasn’t shared a meal with HER husband in months, either. She hasn’t gone to bed at the same time as HER husband in months, either. She hasn’t made love to HER husband in months, either. But yeah you’re right we do ‘see’ each other every day. Whoopee.”

“You’re attacking me, and that’s not fair. Why do you think I’m working this fucking hard? For fun? Because I like having high blood pressure, anxiety, and never-ending migraines? No! If I can make Sarah’s a success, I can change our lives! Not _my_ life, OUR lives! We can have financial security, we could have a bigger home. We could start planning for a family, for children! Don’t you want these things for us?”

“I do. And you seem to forget that I’m working just as hard as you, to make that happen. It’s just ... I wish we could both keep working for the future, while being able to be in each others’ lives, now. Even if it’s just for a few measly hours. You said you have a lot on your mind? I know you do. And I try really hard not to bother you when so much is weighing you down. But please forgive me, I’m selfish: I just wish that one of the things ‘on your mind’, was ME.”

“Ben —“

“I’m gonna go to sleep now,” Ben interrupted him. There were heavy tears falling down his cheeks from both eyes, yet his voice, while husky, was oddly calm and detached. “Don’t forget to turn off the lights when you’re done in here; you left them on the last two nights in a row.”

“Ben ...” Hux said, finding the lump in his throat made it difficult to speak. “I love you.”

Ben turned back around, and gave Hux the most tired-looking smile Hux had ever seen before. “Ditto. Goodnight.”

—

Ben had fallen asleep last night almost as soon as his head had hit the pillow, and he slept like a log throughout. He wasn’t sure what time Hux made it into bed, or if he’d even slept beside him at all. But at the same time, his energy was so low that he found he just didn’t care.

He sat up with a sigh. He was off of work today, but he almost wished he wasn’t. He needed something to keep his mind occupied.

He pulled himself out of bed slowly, yawning as he made his way to the kitchen. He thought he would grab a quick bowl of cereal, then maybe do some programming on one of the video games he’d been working on as a side project.

But when he turned the corner, he jumped a bit, startled, because sitting at the table was —

“Hux? What the hell? Why aren’t you gone yet?”, Ben asked, slowly sitting down across from him. “Don’t you leave at 5:30’s on Thursday’s to supervise the meat delivery? It’s like, 8 o’clock already.”

“Yes, but today I called _Jerrod_ and asked him to do it. If he’s really after my meat, now he can have access to about 3500 pounds of it.”

Ben let out a small laugh at that, but still held back. “But .. why?”

“I’ve been up all night, thinking about what you said to me. And I owe you such an apology, Ben.”

“You don’t have to apologize. I said some pretty dumb, petty shit, and I should be more understanding of everything you’ve got on your plate right now. I’m sor—“

“No, no, no. You don’t have a thing to be sorry about. Because you were completely right; I **haven’t** spent a lot of time with you, and when I AM with you, I have so much going on in my head that I don’t pay hardly any attention to you. And there’s really no excuse for that.”

“You’re busy, and you’re working hard for us. I understand that.”

“Fuck being busy, Ben. Seriously, FUCK that. Because if I was doing my job as a husband, you wouldn’t have ANY doubts or suspicions in your head about Jerrod, or anyone else. Or any _thing_ else. Last night, the way you sounded ... it terrified me. I mean it literally terrified me. Because for the very first time since we’ve been together, last night was the only time that I ever felt that I might be in danger of losing you. And if that happens, then Sarah’s wouldn’t matter. Nothing else in my life would matter. Do you understand that? YOU, matter. YOU, are the most important, wonderful, beautiful, exciting thing my life. I started thinking about what your face looked like, when I walked down the aisle at our wedding. That, compared to the way you looked when you said Goodnight last night ... I’ll literally take a match and burn Sarah’s down myself, before I **ever** make your face look like that again.”

Before Ben could respond to any of this, Hux went on,

“Now, I want you to keep sitting there and looking gorgeous, and I’m going to make you breakfast. While we’re eating, I want you to be thinking about what you want to do today. I’m going to have Renato cover for me tonight so that I can spend the entire day with you. And I’m going to try and make this a thing for us, at least once week. So anything that you want, I’ll make it happen. We can go —“

Ben got out of his chair and ran at him and threw his arms around him, knocking the air out of the redhead. “I want to stay here. I want us to stay in our pajamas all day, be lazy, eat junk food, and watch movies on the couch. No phones, no computers, no working on bills, no coding or programming. Just me and you. That’s what I want.”

Hux hugged him back fiercely. “Then that’s what we’re going to do.”

He kissed Ben’s forehead before going to the refrigerator. “Now, what do you want for breakfast?”

“You.”

Hux turned and smiled. “Really? I was kinda thinking cinnamon rolls and some —“

Ben folded his arms across his chest, giving Hux a mock-pout. “You said, anything I want. And you know what? I think I’d like my breakfast in bed,” he said, before turning and heading for their bedroom.

After a few seconds, Hux followed, to give his husband what (t)he(y) wanted.


	9. Chapter 9

“It’s not huge, but it’s far from tiny.”

“Funny; that’s almost exactly what you said to me before the first time we slept together.”

“Ha, ha, ha. Okay but seriously, what are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that you undersold yourself, because it was a lot bigger than you made it out to be. Pretty solid affirmation that you needed either stronger glasses, or more self-awareness.”

“Ben!”

“Okay, okay!”, Ben exclaimed, laughing. “Um, well, the kitchen is pretty sweet, which is good for you. With a little work and re-decorating, I could turn the attic into a decent home office for me to do my remote work. The backyard is great; I can see us having a lot of barbecues with our friends out there. And _three_ bedrooms? Makes me want to take you into OUR bedroom so we can get started filling them up with kids.”

Hux smiled. “That’s not how reproduction works. But, okay, then ... are we doing this?”

“We’re definitely doing this,” Ben replied, and the two threw their arms around each other in a hug.

It had finally happened. After three years of saving, after three years of hard work and sacrifices and searching, Ben and Hux were ready to enter the arena of home ownership.

And the one they finally settled on was a lovely one. Light blue and white, bungalow-style, beautiful stone pillars and fireplace, a kitchen that actually met Hux’s crazy standards, and a yard filled with natural-growing lavender and honeysuckle flowers. 

It was perfect.

And reasonably priced; it was being sold not through a real estate agent but by the owner, who told the two that he just wanted to move down to Florida.

“Never thought I’d be selling my home to two gay men,” the old man commented, when they were signing the papers. “But you seem like some nice fellas. How long you been married, you say?”

“Five years in June,” Hux said, smiling. This guy ... he was blunt, and not exactly politically correct, but he had a charming, folksy way about him. Reminded Hux a little of his father.

“Well, keep it up. Marriage is the hardest job there is, but also the most rewarding. My wife and I were married for 55 years before she passed. Always talked about moving to the sunshine state.”

“I’m sorry your wife passed, Mr. Durin.”

“It’s alright; part of life, after all,” he said, somewhat gruffly. “At least I won’t be alone out there; my daughter lives in Miami. Now I’ll finally get to spend some time with my grandsons. Do you have children?”

Hux shook his head. “No, not yet.”

“Well, don’t wait too long. Kids are a real handful; it helps if you’re young, to keep up with ‘em.”

—

“Hux! Can you come in here, please?”

Hux straightened up with a yawn. It was several weeks later and, both men being off work, Hux was attempting to finish unpacking the rest of their boxes. He wanted Ben to help (after all, most of the unpacked stuff was HIS), but Ben had spent the last two hours in and out of the bathroom.

Moving in had been wonderful. It was so different, going from their apartment to a place with multiple floors. Ben was already putting in work re-modeling the attic, and Hux must have spent hours meticulously cleaning, arranging and re-arranging the kitchen, to get it just how he wanted it.

They’d even already met some of their new neighbors. The couple to the left of them invited them to a barbecue, and it turned out one of the guests was a woman who came into Sarah’s with her co-workers every Friday night.

“Dan, I’m sorry,” she said to the host, shaking her head, “But this guy’s barbecued ribs blow yours right out of the water. No offense.”

“Well, now; I guess I’ll have to go into your restaurant and see for myself,” Dan had replied, giving Hux a friendly shoulder-jostle.

“Or — you could just come over to OUR house for a barbecue?”, Ben interjected, smiling. “We’ve been wanting to invite people over, to get to know the neighbors.”

“Ben’s right. How about next Saturday afternoon?”

“Deal. But I’m afraid that if your ribs ARE better than mine, we’re going to have to be bitter over-the-fence rivals,” Dan joked, to which everyone laughed.

That was last weekend, and now, Hux was busily trying to organize the rest of their possessions. Which would be a LOT easier to do, if Ben wasn’t interrupting him like this.

Hux headed to the bathroom to see what Ben wanted, but when he opened the door, he did a double-take, surprised.

Ben was on his knees, next to the shower, with his pants pulled down, exposing his pale behind.

“What the hell?”, Hux said, confused. “Is ... is this some kind of fucked-up foreplay, or —?”

“No. Um, don’t laugh, but, I need you to give me an enema. Bottles on the sink there.”

Hux started to laugh, the surprised laugh of one who doesn’t believe what he’s just heard.

“Is enema code for dick? Like, you’re asking me to top you? Because I _know_ there’s no possible way you ACTUALLY mean an enema.”

“Hux, I’m not playing around, here. I’ve been contipated for 4 fucking days. I’m at my wits end.”

“Oh my God ... seriously?”

“Yes, seriously! Come on Hux, please?? I’m so plugged up I could die!”

“ **I** could die if I do this!”, Hux wailed, looking at the little bottle with disdain. “You really can’t find the hole yourself?”

“It’s not that I can’t find it, it’s that my arm is in a weird angle so I can’t get the thing all the way up there. Come on Hux; please??”

“Okay Ben, maybe now’s the time to tell you; I want a divorce. I’ll let you keep the house, so I’ll just go pack my things back up and —“

“You love me way too much to ever leave me, you liar. And hopefully you love me enough to help me out, here, too.”

Hux sighed and got on his knees, kneeling at Ben’s backside. “I swear, I never signed up for this. And if you decide to do something like fart in my face, I’m pushing your head into the toilet and holding it there until the bubbles stop. Understood?”

“Understood. And you did so sign up for this. ‘In sickness and in health’, remember?”

“I guess I’ll give you that; this is pretty sick,” Hux retorted, picking you the small bottle and reading the directions on the side. “So you’re really doing this to me, huh? I thought we’d make some nice memories in here, maybe have some shower sex, something. But now every time I come in here, all I’m gonna be able to think about is shoving a bottle up your ass to help you shit. Thanks a bunch, babe.”

“Hey but, you know, speaking of you topping me ... we should do that more often. Switch it up. I mean I know we don’t talk about it much, but I really like it when you —“

“And we’re not talking about it now. Not while I’m prying you open with a damn squirt bottle, Ben.”

Ben sighed. “Fine. Hey, give me a warning before you actually shoot into me, okay? I always give you one.”

Hux had to put the bottle down because he had started to laugh. “Shut up with the jokes; otherwise I’m gonna miss the hole entirely.”

“So rude; I never miss YOUR —“

“Ben!”

“Okay, okay, sorry.”

Hux steadied his hands again, and re-positioned the bottle.

“Okay, ready? Three, two, one,” Hux counted down, before deploying the pump. Ben yelped, jumping a little.

“Holy shit that’s cold!”

“It’s not supposed to be.”

“Well, it is. Are we done now?”

“Yeah,” Hux said, tossing the empty bottle into the little trash can. He turned on the water in the sink, and began to scrub his hands. “Thank God.”

Ben pulled his pants back up, slowly. “Wonder how long before it kicks in?”

“The bottle said anywhere from 10 minutes to three hours.”

“Oh, fucking hell!” Ben groaned, putting his hands over his eyes. “If it’s a whole three hours I really _am_ going to die.”

He walked slowly out of the bathroom and to the bedroom, laying down gingerly on his side. Hux followed him, saying,

“You know I hate to say I Told You So, but ...”

“If you’re about to give me another lecture on the cheese platter, I swear to God, Hux —“

Earlier that week, Hux had hosted a cheese tasting event at his restaurant. This was a money-making idea Hux had come up with; once a week, Hux would host some kind of cooking competition at Sarah’s. Those who participated paid Hux an entry fee, in return for being able to promote and sell their own goods at a recognizable place. The competitions drew in a lot of spectators, and the majority of them came back later to eat at Sarah’s. A win-win for all parties involved.

Last week had been a cake-off, and the week before that, a burger bonanza; this week’s theme was cheese. Cheese-makers from all over came to tout their wares, and at the end of the day, Hux was able to bring home a huge tray loaded with cheese and cheese-based food creations. He had thought such a huge amount would last them several days ... only to come home the next night and find that Ben had eaten the entire thing in one sitting, for ‘a snack’.

“I’m just saying; maybe next time you’ll take it easy. I really hope you do, actually, because next week I’m hosting a chili cook-off and God knows you’ll explode if you decide to go overboard with THAT.”

Ben groaned and rolled over. “I can’t even think about chili right now. I can’t think about anything right now. You know I’ve spent at least 90% of the last few days at work in the bathroom; everyone thinks I have the flu!”

Hux started to laugh, and quite hard, at that.

“Ah, but the truth is SO much more glamorous, isn’t it, love?,” Hux got out, still laughing. “Hey, I need to take a picture or something for posterity. Hold that pose while I go get my phone.”

Hux popped into the living room, but when he returned, Ben was no longer in the bed. Hux began walking to the bathroom door, but before he reached it, Ben’s voice called out, joyfully,

“It’s working!!”

Hux smiled and, shaking his head, returned to the living room. He loved Ben, and normally he was eager to take part in everything going on in his life ...

... but this, today, definitely wasn’t one of those things.

— —

“So are you driving me out into the woods to kill me? Is that what’s going on here?”

“Maybe. Or maybe I’m taking you out to the woods for a really hot exhibitionist sex show. Either way, you look pretty good in a blindfold.”

Hux sighed, and turned his head toward the open window.

When Ben came up to him earlier and asked if he wanted to go for “ a nice ride”, Hux had been happy; after all, it was a beautiful day. But when they got in the car, Ben quickly reached over and secured a blindfold over his eyes, telling him not to take it off until they got there.

“Until we get _where_??”’

“You’ll see. All part of the surprise.”

“What surprise?”

Ben groaned. “Come on, Hux; if I told you it wouldn’t be a surprise anymore. Relax, my dear.”

After what seemed like a long time, the car stopped, and Ben ran around to Hux’s door, opening it and helping him out. Before Hux could pull off his blindfold, he felt something ELSE being slipped over his head, covering his mouth and nose.

“What the heck is this?!”, Hux asked, his voice slightly muffled.

“You’ll see,” Ben said, while gently removing Hux’s blindfold. Hux had to blink for a few seconds, to accustom his eyes to the sudden brightness.

When he could see again, he found that they were standing in front of a small, rust-red building.

“Where are we?”, he asked, confused.

“We’re at the county animal shelter,” Ben explained, grinning.

“But why —“

“Okay, so, obviously, that mask is so that you don’t breathe in all the pet fur too much. But I called ahead, and Hux, they have about two dozen _hypo-allergenic_ cats here.”

Hux’s face dawned a slow smile. “Hypo-allergenic? Meaning ...”

“Meaning fur that won’t make you sneeze. Surprise!”, Ben said, throwing his arms around Hux. But Hux was too dazed to properly hug him back. He had always wanted a cat, ever since he was a boy. But hypo-allergenic cats were hard to come by, and, Hux had always assumed, expensive.

He would have never thought about checking out an animal shelter, to _adopt_ one, rather than buying. And he couldn’t believe Ben had gone to all this effort, to do this for him.

“Well, come on, babe,” Ben said now, eagerly pulling on his hand. “Let’s go find our future cat-kid!”

Ben and Hux spent half an hour, carefully looking at the different types of hypo-allergenic kitties. Some were old, some were young. Some were downright scary-looking. But near the end of the row, Hux saw one that really caught his eye.

“This one’s really cute,” he said, kneeling and cautiously putting his fingers through the bars, making ‘psst psst’ noises. The cat came up to him and rubbed itself, purring, against Hux’s hand. “Look; I think he likes me!”

The proprietor of the shelter, an older man with a potbelly and a big, toothy smile, came up to them. “That ones a girl, actually. About 4, 4 1/2 months old. And I don’t think you could have made a better choice. Historically, Siberian cats are known to produce 75% less allergens than any other hypoallergenic breed. And did you know that females naturally produce less than the males?”

“That’s interesting; I didn’t know all that. You said it’s a Siberian?”

“Yep. This particular breed is affectionate, playful, and really, really smart. They’re known for being the problem-solvers of the feline world, so it’ll be hard to put anything over on this one. They’re quite agile too.”

“Jeez, Hux; this cat sounds like your mini-me,” Ben said, with a smile. To the man he said, “Sir, it looks like this little girl has found herself a home.”

While the man went to ready the paperwork, Hux put his arms around Ben, kissing his nose. “I know I said I didn’t want anything for my birthday, but you seriously could not have picked a better present if you’d tried.”

“Your birthday?”, Ben asked, tilting his head. “Is that coming up soon??”

Hux lightly smacked Ben’s shoulder. “You know it’s next week, Ben.”

“Oh? Well then this sure was some lucky timing then, huh?”, Ben smirked, teasing him. And if you think this is great, wait till I give you part two.”

“I don’t know, Benny; you know I’ve been feeling a little sore lately,” Hux said, teasing _him_ now. “Not sure if I’ll be up for a part two.”

“Huh? I don’t know what YOU’RE referring to, but I was just gonna make you dinner,” Ben replied, shaking his head. “Goodness, all you ever think about is sex, sex, sex.”

“So says the man who effectually blindfolded me, gagged me, then made really perverted dick jokes all the way over here.”

Ben chuckled. “A true comedian never stops practicing his art, my beloved” he said, loftily, kissing Hux’s hand before turning to make his way to the proprietor’s office. 

Hux watched him go, then knelt down by the cage again, putting his hand through the bars. The cat came forward and cautiously licked his fingers. 

“That was your other dad,” Hux said, softly. “He’s a little weird sometimes, but you’ll love him, like I do. Be right back!”; and then he rushed down the hall after Ben.


	10. Chapter 10

“Ben. Come on. I’m sure you’ll like him.”

Ben frowned, and set the tray of lasagna down on the table, a bit harder than necessary. “I don’t WANT to like him.”

“Why??”

“Because I already know he’s not good enough for her.”

Hux sighed, peeking in the oven at his homemade garlic bread. “Ben seriously, you need to take the stick out of your ass and stop this. Have some faith in your sister’s judgement, okay?”

Ben didn’t answer; instead, he was now aggressively setting the table. 

Hux felt a brush against his leg. Millicent (which is what he had chosen to name their cat), was staring up at him as if to ask why Dad #2 was so out of sorts today.

“I have no idea, baby,” he murmured softly. He would have leaned down to pet her, except he didn’t want to risk animal hair getting into his food.

He wanted tonight’s meal to be perfect.

When Rey has graduated from college last fall, Ben and Hux had flown out with Kira to attend the ceremony in California. It was a beautiful day, and Rey looked absolutely radiant.

And absolutely, very much — in love.

During her junior year, she had met someone at a party, a tall, handsome, African-American boy named Finn. The two found that they had a lot in common, and very quickly began dating.

When Ben and Hux met him at graduation, the interaction had been a very brief one, as both Finn and Rey had separate celebrations with their individual families. 

But now, Rey was home for a few weeks of summer ... and she had brought Finn with her. Today, at Hux’s invitation, the two were coming over for dinner.

“I don’t know what you’re so upset about.”

“I’m not upset. It’s just that this kid isn’t good enough for Rey.”

Hux was quiet for a few moments, and then, timidly, “Ben. I’m gonna ask you something, and I want you to give me an honest answer.”

“What?”

“You think Finn isn’t good enough for Rey. Is that in anyway related to the fact that he’s black?”

Ben turned around and stared at him, looking aghast. “What the fuck?? NO! Do you honestly think I’m a damn racist?!”

“No, but —“

“I would never discriminate against someone because of what shade they are. It’s the same shit as people looking at US funny because we’re two men holding hands in public.”

“I agree. But if it’s not that, I literally can’t fathom what problem you have with him.”

Ben leaned against the counter with a sigh. In all honesty, he had no idea why he felt so weird about this. Hux, however, put it into words, when he suggested,

“You know ... I think maybe you’re a little jealous, actually.”

“Jealous? Of what?”

“You’re Rey’s big brother. Your guys’ dad died, and you kinda became the main man in her life. You could protect her and spoil her all the time. But now, there’s somebody ELSE in the picture that can protect and spoil her, and that just drives you crazy, doesn’t it?”

Instead of answering, Ben just muttered something about “I’m gonna go change these pants before they get here; I spilled sauce on them.”

Hux watched him go with a little smile. Ben was so sensitive sometimes, and extremely possessive over the things he loved. It was going to be hard for him, and likely take some time for him to adjust to this new situation. 

Hux just hoped that, at any rate, he could keep it together _tonight_.

— —

“Oh, Hux; I missed your cooking,” Rey said, helping herself to a second slice of lasagna. “Is there any way you can like, make meals, freeze them, then have them shipped to me in Cali?”

Hux chuckled. “That doesn’t sound very appetizing, really. I mean, food tastes better when it’s made fresh.”

“Rey is right; this is fantastic,” Finn said, taking another bite of his own. “And usually I’m not a big lasagna guy, but this is different. What’s your secret?”

“Two things; one, basil leaves. Put a thin layer of basil under the top layer of cheese, and the flavor trickles all the way down and infuses the pasta and sauce with a kind of peppery-sweet taste. The second is pecorino cheese. It’s hard to find in supermarkets; I get this from a deli that specializes in cheeses. Pecorino is aged for only about 5-6 months, instead of the few years that Parmesan is, and the shorter aging process gives it a stronger, tangy taste.”

“Shit; I feel like I should have a notebook to be writing this all down. My mom would love if I could make something like this for her. Last time I tried to make her a cake for Mother’s Day and I nearly burned down the kitchen.”

Everyone laughed at that, all except Ben. He hadn’t said much this evening, and other than a brief handshake and a “Hi” when he’d walked in the door, hadn’t conversed with Finn at all.

“It must be great, living with a chef,” Finn said now, addressing Ben.

Ben nodded. “Fantastic.”

“What’s your favorite thing of his that he makes?”

“I like everything he makes.”

“He says that, but Ben is like me,” Rey interjected with a smile. “He goes crazy for chili above all else.”

“It’s true,” Hux said. “The very first time we met Rey, I made a big pot of chili for dinner. Between the two of them, they nearly ate the entire pot.”

“I had such heartburn the next day,” Rey said, patting her chest for emphasis, “But God was it worth it;” to which Hux and Finn laughed.

After dinner, Hux suggested that they play some board games, to which Rey was enthusiastic. 

“Do you have Monopoly? I haven’t played that in forever!”

Hux nodded. “We sure do. I think it’s upstairs in Ben’s office though.”

He stood up, and said to Rey, “Come up with me; there’s a bunch of games up there, help me find them and carry them down.”

The two left, leaving Ben and Finn in an awkward silence in the living room.

Finn picked up his water glass and drank half of it, before commenting, “You guys have a really nice house.”

“Thank you.”

“And I love the neighborhood; you don’t really see much of this where we live in California. Everything’s all condos and apartments, or the really fancy rich-people houses.”

“Is California where you were born?”

Finn shook his head. “No; I was born in Michigan. Always thought I’d move back there after school, but, well, Rey loves it out in Cali. Says she loves the sunshine. So I guess I’d better get used to it.”

“So you’re willing to stay somewhere you’re not happy, just for Rey?”, Ben asked, skeptically.

“Actually I’m happier than I’ve ever been. Due entirely to your sister.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Seriously, I’m just thankful to have her,” Finn answered, taking another sip of his water. “You know, I don’t know if you realize this about your sister, but she’s a saver.”

“What do you mean?”

“She saves people. Without realizing it, she helps or saves everyone she comes into contact with. Her dorm was busy all hours of the day and night, people always coming to her for comfort or advice. And she’s probably the least judgmental person I’ve ever met in my life. Did she tell you how we met?”

“Um, at a party, right?”

Finn smiled. “Yeah, at a party. Did she mention that I was attempting to drink myself into a coma because I was a wreck over my dad having died two months earlier?”

“No,” Ben said, quietly. “I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“That night, everyone else just ignored me, thinking I was fine, just getting drunk. Nobody saw I’d downed two ENTIRE bottles of Rum, and was working on one of Tequila. But Rey ... its like she has a second sight about things. She got me out of there, she got me to a hospital. Stayed with me all night while they pumped my stomach and put fluids into me. Got me into counseling. It’s — Rey is different. It’s like she’s an angel working undercover on earth. I was such a mess, I never expected her to agree to a date with me, but she did. And since that day ... Ben, I don’t want to ever let her go.”

Ben was silent for a few moments, chewing over Finn’s words.

“I felt the same way, when my mom died,” he finally said, looking Finn in the eye. “I mean I wasn’t drinking or anything but I completely shut down. I went to work, came home, ate, and slept. Had no interest in friends, or or being social, or, really, _living_. But Hux found me and he damn well saved me, too. So ... I get it. I really get it.”

Here he paused, and gave Finn his first genuine smile all night.

“But just because I get it, doesn’t mean I’m above snapping your neck and dumping you in a shallow grave, should I EVER find out that you hurt her in any way. Do we have an understanding?, he asked, holding out his hand.

Finn also smiled, and grasped Ben’s hand, giving it a firm shake. “We definitely have an understanding.”

“We found it!”, Rey exclaimed, coming from the attic, holding several games in her arms. “And we found Apples to Apples, Life, Scrabble, Battleship, and Pictionary!”

“Let’s play Pictionary first,” Ben said, smiling. “But let’s do teams, me and Finn against you and Hux.”

Hux gave him a surprised look, but Rey was beaming. “Okay; but let’s make it interesting. Every time one of your partners can’t guess your picture, you have to down a shot of vinegar.”

Ben smirked. “Well, then, prepare yourself, sis; Hux may be a great cook but he can’t draw his way out of a paper bag.”

— —

“It’s so nice of you to help out like this.”

Ben straightened up with a smile. He was at Lakewood House, which was a home where orphaned or disowned children were sent, to be under the care of the state. Compared to other places like this, Lakewood House was actually quite lovely. Clean, spacious, every child with their own room, and an entire system of schooling that could be completed through online courses.

Just recently, though, the computers had come down with a nasty virus, preventing the kids from learning. One of Ben’s former co-workers from his warehouse days happened to be a maintenance man at Lakewood, and he had immediately thought of his old, computer-savvy friend to help.

“It’s no problem, ma’am,” Ben said to the woman, one of the child guardians. “I’ve cleaned out the system, the virus is gone. Give it a couple of hours to reboot, and everything should be fine again.”

She patted his shoulder. “Are you sure we can’t pay you for your troubles?”

Ben shook his head. “That’s alright. But I’d better get out of here; all these kids are bound to hate me once they realize I’m the reason they have to do homework again.”

She chuckled at that. “Well, at stay long enough for us to pack you up some cookies. Fresh from the oven!”

Ben smiled. “Well, if you insist ...”

She left him, and Ben sat down in one of the little chairs, pulling out his phone to text Hux and let him know he was ready to be picked up (they were down to one car now, and Hux needed it to run errands while Ben was here).

“It’s the music.”

Ben looked up. There was a girl standing in front of him, probably no more than 14 or 15 years old. She seemed normal enough ...

... except, looking at her, it was obvious; this child was about to have a child of her own. Not unusual in itself; lots of the residents of places like these turned out to be unwed teenage mothers, whose families had abandoned them. Still, it was something of a shock, seeing one that looked as young as she did.

“The music?”

She sat down next to him. “Yeah, the music. Some of the kids here sneak and download music when the guardians aren’t looking. Not from very safe sites, either. Probably where the virus came from.”

“That’s a pretty good assessment.”

He looked at her closely. “Hey ... have I seen you somewhere before?”

She looked down and blushed. “Um, yeah, I think so. You volunteer down at that one church, right? The one with the two trees in front?”

“Yeah, me and my husband do sometimes.”

“You probably saw me a few years back, when I was still with my dad. We used to go to services all the time.”

“Ah okay. I remember now; your dad used to play the organ sometimes, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So ... can I ask what happened? I mean, why are you here?”

“Isn’t it obvious, Mister?”, she asked, patting her very large belly. “Daddy kicked me out six months ago. Said he didn’t want no whore in his house.”

Ben shook his head. “That’s really awful. Have you been here the whole time?”

“No. First I was with my baby’s father. He was 17, just graduated, getting ready to go to the army. Said once he started getting money we’d get our own place and get married. Then the idiot doesn’t look when he crosses the street and gets hit by a car. Died two days later. After he got buried, his mama told me to leave, said she didn’t believe this baby was his anyways. So I came here.”

The woman came back out then, cookies packed into a Tupperware container for Ben. He thanked her, and when she was gone again, he asked,

“How far along are you?”

“About 30 weeks. I’m due around October 14.”

“What are you going to do, once you have your baby?”

She shrugged. “Well, I figure the best thing to do is put it up for adoption.”

“Really? That’s a coincidence; my husband and I have been looking into adopting ourselves.”

“Your husband is the man with the red hair, right? The one who cooks?”

“Yeah. That’s him. His name is Hux. I’m Ben, by the way,” he said, extending his hand.

She took it with a smile. “Eliza.”

Here she took a deep breath, and said, “Hey, Ben ... you said you guys were thinking about adopting? Well, what if you took my baby?”

“W-what?”

“I wouldn’t charge you guys nothing for it. Adoption agencies cost money, right? I’d sign whatever papers for you to take the baby free and clear.”

“Eliza ... slow down, honey. I mean, you don’t even really know us, and —“

At that moment, Hux came in the door. He spotted Ben sitting with Eliza, and walked up to them. “Hey; you ready to go?”

Ben turned to Eliza. “Are you allowed to leave here for a few hours? So we can maybe go somewhere and talk?”

She nodded. “Yeah. But I have to sign out on the sheet, and be back by curfew.”

Ben nodded. “Okay, well, I’ll wait here for you until you take care of that, okay?”

She nodded and walked away, leaving Ben and Hux alone.

“Are we taking that kid somewhere?”, Hux asked, confused.

“Hux ... you’re not gonna believe this —“


	11. Chapter 11

About an hour later found them sitting in Ben and Hux’s living room, drinking tea and snacking on the cookies Ben had gotten from Lakewood. 

Hux had been quiet when hearing Eliza’s story, and quieter still when Ben explained to him the proposition she had made him.

“But ... why us?”, Hux asked her. “Like Ben says, you don’t even really know us.”

“I’m not trying to sound like a pervert or something, but ... I used watch you guys a lot, when you came to the church. Like, you were always hugging and kissing and whispering to each other. It’s like you’re actually in love. My parents were always screaming at each other, and when they weren’t yellin’ they were hittin’. Then mom died and I got the hittin’. I don’t want her to grow up seeing stuff like that. I want her to have two parents who are happy, so that she’ll be happy, too.”

“You said ‘she’? It’s a girl?”

“Oh, yeah,” she said, smiling, “They had her tested to make sure she was growing’ okay. Said sometimes babies develop funny if the mother is really young or really old. Anyways the tests came back fine; they did a ...what do you call it? Amnio-something? And they said it’s a girl. Then later I had the ultrasound and it said the same thing.”

Ben and Hux both exchanged a glance. They were open to having any type of child, of course; but both had talked extensively about wishing that their first one could be a little girl.

“Eliza ... you’re so young, you know? I have to question whether you really understand what you’re planning on doing.”

She was quiet for a few moments, before answering, in a sober tone,

“I may be young, but I get it. I know I’m too young to do this right. I don’t have the money, and I’m not patient enough for a baby. And a kid deserves somebody who can take care of it really good, you know? Someone who’s ready for it. If I was older, or if my boyfriend was alive, it might be different. But this is the best thing I can do for my girl.”

“But what will **you** do?”

Eliza smiled. “I have an Aunt who lives in Maine. She says once I get this baby situated I can live with her. She’s got a great big old house out there, right by the water. She says I can go back to school and everything. Like starting over again.”

“This is a really big thing, sweetheart. Will you give me and my husband a few days to think about this?”

“Oh yeah, sure. I guess this is kinda a big thing to think about, huh?”

She glanced at her watch. “I’ve got to get back to the home soon.”

Hux stood up. “I’ll drive you.”

The girl hugged Ben goodbye, and then she and Hux were out the door. The drive there and back was only about twenty minutes long, but to Ben, it felt like an eternity.

When Hux finally came back, the first thing Ben said you him was, 

“What do you think?”

“Why did you tell her we need a few days to think about it? I want this!”

Ben drew back a bit, surprised. Hux was the logical thinker, the worrier, the planner. Ben had been mentally gearing up to convince him of this, but to hear so blatantly that Hux wanted it, too?

“But what about —“

“The restaurant is doing really well. You’re doing well at your job. Plus you have the option of working from home, and if I cut back on my days at the restaurant, one of us will always be here; so we’d save on childcare while she’s still young. We have great health insurance, so she’d be covered there. And Ben, we’d love her. Eliza said it herself; we’re in love, and we HAVE so much more love to give to someone else. I want this.”

“But this ... this is a really huge decision, you know? It’ll change our lives forever.”

Hux took hold of Ben’s hands. “I know. But Ben, I’m ready to be a father, and I know you are, too. We’ve wanted a family for so long, and now we have a chance at starting one.”

Behind them, Millicent gave off a loud meow, and Hux smiled, saying, “See? It’s unanimous!”

“Well, okay,” Ben said, trying his best to hold back tears. “I guess if we change our minds we can always exchange her for another cat or something.”

Hux reached out and smacked Ben’s shoulder, and quite hard at that. “That’s not funny, and you better stop talking like that about my daughter.”

“ _Our_ daughter.”

“Our daughter,” Hux agreed, and the two embraced each other, the tears finally flowing from both their eyes.

— —

The next few weeks felt like a very surreal dream, to the men. Eliza was overjoyed to hear that the two would take her baby, and together, the trio set in motion all the legalities that came with such a move.

Eliza found an attorney to represent her, and he drew up legal contracts for them to sign.

“This contract ensures that the child will be remanded to your custody upon birth, and the mother, ie my client, is renouncing all rights to her. This paper is the official adoption form, and once it’s filled out, I send a copy to the state building, to have it legalized. THIS form,” he said, pulling out a different paper, “Guarantees you access to the maternity ward and nursery after the child is born, with the same rights and privileges that are afforded to the birth parents.”

The lawyer had brought a man with him, to be an official witness to the contract signing. The lawyer asked Eliza, “Do you, Eliza Marie Johnson, understand the terms of the contract as I’ve explained it to you?”

“I do.”

She signed her name on the line, the lawyer signed his, and the witness his. Then it was Ben and Hux’s turn.

“I want you to understand something, Eliza,” Hux said, as he signed his name. “I know you may not be ready for it now, you may not be ready for it ever; but if the day should come when you want to meet her, or even just talk to her on the phone, Ben and I will 100% support that.”

“That’s right,” Ben said, as he signed his own name. “We’ll always keep you updated with our phone numbers, emails, and address, so that you will always have the option of reaching out, if you decide you want to.”

“But if you don’t,” Hux said, taking hold of her hands, “I want you to know, for absolute certain, that this child will always be loved, and always well taken care of. _Always_.”

Eliza started to cry, wiping the tears from her eyes with her sleeve.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her voice husky. “

That had been three weeks ago, and Ben and Hux were in a frenzy, trying to get the baby’s room ready for her.

They also spent a good deal of time with Eliza, visiting her at Lakewood, accompanying her to doctor appointments. Hux had taken the ultrasound picture from one of their visits and had it framed and hung up in his office at Sarah’s.

“Hey; how come we’re painting everything pink?”, Ben asked Hux one day, as they stood in the baby’s room. 

“Because she’s a girl and girls like pink?”

“That’s kinda backwards thinking, isn’t it? What if she likes yellow, or green?”

Hux smirked. “Well, we’ll wait until she can talk, and if she tells us she wants a new color, we’ll change it. Besides, **I** like pink, so there.”

Ben just shook his head and continued to fold clothes for the little dresser. They had received so many things from their friends, clothes, diapers, toys, books, bottles and formulas, that they were running out of room to put everything. Rey herself, ecstatic over having a niece, had sent them what must have been an entire store’s worth of little dresses, and shoes, and onesies.

“Okay; but when you fall asleep, I’m sneaking back in here and just painting everything every color of the rainbow,” Ben said, to which they both laughed.

“I don’t —“, Hux began, but was interrupted by his phone ringing.

“Hello? Oh, hello, Miss Farid, how are .... what? Really? Yes of course, we’ll go right away,” he said, before hanging up.

“What’s wrong??”

“That was one of the guardians at Lakewood House. Eliza’s water broke, they took her to the hospital.”

“W-what?”, Ben asked, his face having gone an ashen-gray. “But she’s not due for another _month_! What if ... what if something —“

But Hux cut him off, saying, “It’s okay. She’ll be okay. Come on, get dressed; we have to get to the hospital.”

Ben stood there a moment longer, then leapt into action, consumed with a sudden overwhelming impatience, to get to his daughter.

—

“What time is it?”

Hux glanced at his watch. “9.”

“That’s it?!”

Hux nodded. “Yeah. That’s it.”

Both men sighed, the fear and uncertainty rolling off of them in waves. When they arrived at the hospital, they were told that Eliza was being prepped for birth, and the doctor would come out when it was over, and give them the status on the baby.

But that was nearly 7 hours ago.

Both men did what they could, to keep calm. Ben read all of the magazines in the waiting room, some twice. Hux alternated between pacing back and forth, and using his phone to look up websites listing baby names, as he and Ben still hadn’t come up with a name yet.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity in hell, the doors opened, and a white coated doctor walked towards them.

“Eliza,” Hux started, his voice shaking. “Is she ... is the baby ...”

The doctor smiled. “Eliza is doing just fine. It was a difficult delivery, but she’s a strong girl. She’ll be able to leave in a few days.”

“And the baby?”, Ben asked, gripping Hux’s hand for support.

“A bit early, perhaps, but healthy for all that. 6 pounds, 10 ounces. Because she’s so early we’ll be keeping her in the prenatal ICU for observation, but really, that’s just the hospital’s mandatory requirements for premature babies. As there’s no problems with her breathing, she should be eligible for release within 3 days.”

“She’s okay,” Hux murmured, his entire body going limp with relief. “Thank God, she’s okay.”

“She’s really a little beauty. Full head of hair; we should all be so blessed,” the doctor commented wistfully, touching his own (bald) head.

“Can we see her?”

The doctor nodded. “Of course. The prenatal ICU is up on the third floor, just follow the signs. When you get to the desk, show the nurse your badges, and she’ll take you to your daughter.” Here he stuck out his hand. “Congratulations.”

Hux shook his hand, then Ben. 

“Thank you so much, Doctor Thomas.”

And then the two of them all but sprinted to the elevators.

—

A small, wiggling bundle looked up at them, wrapped in a flower-printed yellow blanket. She had a small round nose, tiny, scrunched-up lips, and, as the doctor said, a head full of dark, straggly hair. But the most amazing thing of all was her eyes. They were an absolutely gorgeous color, something between hazel and gray-blue, and they were open, reflecting Ben and Hux’s awed faces back at them.

“Oh, my God.”

It was the first thing either of them said in at least five minutes, spoken in a soft whisper; and neither was sure who the words had come out of.

“Ben ... I’m so sorry. I think I lied to you. Remember when I said that no day could possibly compare to our wedding day?”

Ben nodded. “You’re right, you did lie. Because, oh, my god ...”, he said, stunned. He wanted so badly to pick this child, THEIR child, up; but was terrified. She was so small, so fragile and delicate and so completely _perfect_. How was he going to do this? How —

In the interval, Hux took the initiative and reached down, bringing her up and into his arms.

“She’s ... she’s so light,” Hux said, gently rocking her back and forth. “She’s light but she’s _solid_. My arms feel all tingly with her in them.”

Ben was still in a bit of a daze, but he had the presence of mind to take out his phone and capture perhaps the most significant picture of his life: his husband’s first time holding their baby.

“I could literally keep her here forever,” Hux murmured, gently kissing her forehead. “Ooohhh, her skin is like silk!”

He looked up at Ben. “Are you ready for your turn?”

“Um, I ... Hux what if I drop her? What if she doesn’t like me and cries? What if —“

“Shhh,” Hux said, smiling. “You’re not going to drop her. You’re her daddy, too, and she needs to meet you. Hold out your arms.”

Ben, taking a deep breath, made a somewhat awkward cradle, and Hux carefully tucked the baby into it. “It’s okay, be gentle, support her head.”

A sudden feeing of calmness came over Ben, and he was able to adjust his arms more naturally. Like Hux had done, he leaned down and kissed her forehead. “She’s so soft,” he said, smiling. “And she’s got that fantastic new-baby smell.”

Hux chuckled at that, and then he took out his phone and, like Ben had done with him, snapped a picture (one that would remain his screensaver for months to come).

As Ben rocked her, the baby let out a small yawn, and closed her eyes, drifting back to sleep.

“Look at that; you’re a natural, sweetheart.”

“Hux ... we’re really facing a huge problem here, you know that?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t feel like I can put her down. You didn’t look like you could put her down, either. And if neither of us can put her down, this kid is going to be so, so spoiled.”

Hux grinned. “If you think that’s bad, wait till I start naming dishes after her at Sarah’s.”

“Oh, speaking of names; I have an idea of what to call her.”

“You do? What?”

—

“How are you feeling?”

It was about half an hour later, and Ben Hux went to go and visit Eliza. First, though, they stopped at the hospitals gift shop, each of them picking out a colorful, fragrant bouquet for the girl.

“I’m so tired,” Eliza said, sighing. “But honestly, I’m just glad I got through that; it hurt so bad I didn’t think I would.”

“Are you still hurting now? Should I ring a nurse for you?”, Hux asked, concerned.

She shook her head. “I’m alright. They gave me some medicine, has my body pretty numb right now.”

She sat up a bit, her eyes curious as she asked,

“You’ve gone to see the baby, right? Is she okay? Is she .. is she ...”

“She’s absolutely beautiful,” Hux said, taking hold of her hand. “And healthy, and strong. Just like you.”

“Oh, good,” she said, leaning back in relief. “They asked if I wanted to hold her, but ... it’d just be too hard. I’m happy she’s alright though.”

“She’s better than alright,” Ben said, grinning. “She’s the best thing ever!”

“What do you think you’re gonna call her?”

“We talked about it, and we decided on Saralei,” Ben said, spelling it for her. “It’s a mix of mine and Hux’s moms names. And, if it’s okay with you, we’d like Eliza to be her middle name.”

Eliza smiled. “That’s awful sweet. And thank you for these flowers, by the way. They’re real pretty.”

“Thank YOU. You have no idea, the kind of gift you’ve given us.”, Hux said, squeezing her hand warmly.

“You’re giving Saralei a bigger one. She has a chance now. She can be _happy_ now. She — she can —“

Eliza drifted off to sleep, the exhaustion of labor and the pain medications kicking in. Hux kissed her forehead, and gestured for Ben to follow him quietly out of the room.

They would come back and visit her tomorrow. 

But right now, they were eager to get back to the nursery, and take another look at the gorgeous Saralei Eliza Solo.


	12. Chapter 12

*~* 15 Years Later *~*

“Me and dad are going for a ride,” Ben said, grabbing the car keys off the hook in the kitchen. “And little lady, I expect that homework to be done by the time we get back. Lizzy, your brother’s asleep in his crib; he had a lot of formula so he should be pretty knocked out. Make sure you keep the baby monitor near you, okay?”

“Hey, if you pass by a mailbox, can you drop this in for me?”, Saralei asked, holding out a large white envelope.

Ben took the letter with a smile. “Will do,” he said, tucking it into his coat. Saralei’s mother had reached out to her last year, wanting to get to know the girl she gave birth to. The two spent hours with each other on the phone, and now they made it a habit to write each other letters at least once a week. Both Ben and Hux were happy about this, as they had wanted their girl to have some type of relationship with her mother from the very beginning.

“Daddy, can’t I come too?”

“No, Hannah,” Hux said, coming into the room. “Your dad and I are going alone.”

“Why?”

Rolling her eyes, Saralei said, “They’re probably going to go park somewhere and grope each other.”

“Lizzy!”

“What does grope mean?”

“Never mind, Hannah. We’ll be back soon. Be good.”

They were halfway down the walk before the front door opened again, and Saralei stuck her head out.

“Hey, guys,” she called after them, pitching her voice low so that her sister wouldn’t hear, “Remember, if things start to get serious, do the responsible thing and use a condom. I love Hannah and Brendol, but ONE little sister and ONE little brother are enough.”

“What the fuck—?”, Ben asked, as they headed towards the car. “She ... she knows that babies aren’t made _this_ way, right?”

Hux just shrugged and got into the driver’s door. “Beats me. Who knows what they’re teaching in school these days.”

Ben looked at him incredulously. “What do you mean, in school? Didn’t you have that talk with her yet? She’s almost 15!”

“Why should I have to give her that talk? Why can’t you?”

“Because we agreed; you’d do Saralei’s, I’d do Hannah’s, and then we’d do Brendol’s together. And I’ve still got at least 7 years to go before I’m up to bat, thank you very much.”

“You know what’s funny about that? You know damn well that when the day comes for Hannah, you’re going to be banging down Rey’s door, bribing her with everything possible to do it for you.”

“What? I never said —“

Hux burst out laughing, unable to help it anymore. 

“Relax. I’m kidding; I had that talk with Lizzy, don’t freak out. And I’m sure she was just kidding, too. Unfortunately, she seems to have inherited your weird sense of humor.”

“What do you mean, unfortunately? That’s the best possible thing she could get from me.”

“Debatable,” Hux said, as he started the car.

It had been a long time since they’d been to this particular beach, and longer still since they’d gone _alone_. But tonight, with it being so warm, and the moon so full, seemed like a good night for it.

“You know,” Hux said, as they walked along, hand in hand, “A long time ago, something happened to me on this beach that changed my entire life.”

“Really?”, Ben asked, grinning. “Did you find a buried treasure chest?”

“No. But somebody proposed to me.”

“Oh, that’s it? I thought it was something exciting.”

“If you want to talk exciting, that happened about two years later, on top of that huge rock over there,” Hux said, pointing. 

“Jeez,” Ben said, softly. “That was risky; we almost got caught!”

“Funny, considering SOMEONE kept insisting that ‘No one comes to the beach this early, Hux. Nobody’s gonna see us!’,” Hux quoted, laughing. “Well, ‘nobody’ came pretty damn close, didn’t he?”

“I STILL think we could have gone another five minutes; he was an old man, his eyesight probably wasn’t even that good!”, Ben protested, setting both of them to laughing.

“We’ve come a long way, baby,” Ben said, reaching out and stroking Hux’s cheek. “From you stalking me to 20 years married, a beautiful house, three beautiful kids, a restaurant —“

“I never stalked you!”, Hux exclaimed, blushing with indignation. 

“Hux. Come on, you did. You even admitted it in your vows; you were waiting by that mailbox to spy on me.”

“OR I was just there to check my mail, and you just happened to walk by.”

“So you were expecting letters 50 times a day, then? And I guess it was just a coincidence that the boxes were in the perfect position for you to stand and look directly up at my door?”

Hux finally laughed, folding his arms across his chest. “Fine, fine, fine. Maybe my actions were a teeny bit stalkerish; but you’ve gotta admit, my pay-off was pretty sweet.”

Ben nodded. “I agree.”

They came upon the rock from earlier now, and Ben said, coyly,

“Speaking of ‘pay-offs’ ... how about we sit here for a while, get to know each other? I mean, who comes to the beach this _late_ , anyway?”

Hux smirked. “‘Get to know each other?’ Really? Twenty-plus years, what else could you possibly want to know about me?”

“Some things are worth reviewing, over and over and over again,” Ben explained, cupping Hux’s face and pulling him into a kiss.

And Hux could find no argument for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay this isn’t really a chapter, but a thought I had about an event that could happen in their life. 
> 
> I picture Saralei to be about 6 years old, vocal, energetic, and with a head a loooong dark-brown hair. Too long. Ben thinks it’s time for her first haircut; after all, it’s the middle of the summer, and all those tresses have got to be annoyingly hot. But Hux is staunchly against it, thinking she’s perfect the way she is.
> 
> So Ben waits until Hux goes into the restaurant one day, and takes Saralei to get her hair cut. When Hux comes home that night, both Ben and Saralei shout “Surprise!” at him, and the child rushes to show Hux her new short hair.
> 
> Hux calmly compliments her, and tells her how cute she looks. He tells her to go watch tv while he and daddy make dinner. But on the way to the kitchen, Hux pulls Ben into the bedroom, and they have a hell of a whisper-fight over what Ben’s done.
> 
> Later that night, Saralei, having been put to bed hours ago, comes sleepy-eyed out of her room for a glass of water. She stops when she sees Daddy Ben curled up under a blanket on the couch.
> 
> “Daddy? What are you doing out here?”
> 
> He comes very close to blurting out “Your dad kicked me out of our bedroom.” Instead he just smiles and says “My back was hurting, so I decided to sleep out here.”
> 
> Saralei immediately goes to Ben, and scoots her little body back into his on the couch. “I’ll stay with you!”, she tells him, and soon falls asleep in his arms.
> 
> Hux wakes up the next day and finds the two of them like that, and can’t help but smile.
> 
>  _Maybe the short hair isn’t so bad after all,_ he thinks to himself, as he snaps a quick picture with his phone. _After all, this kid is adorable no matter WHAT she looks like. Just like Ben._
> 
> Still, Ben can’t go unpunished.
> 
> So Hux quietly goes into the kitchen, and opens up the fridge. Inside was Ben’s lunch pack, ready for him to take to work later that day. Amongst other things, he’s made himself a leftover pot roast sandwich. Hux slips out the meat, and replaces it with chunks of the **liver** he’d brought home from the restaurant two days ago.
> 
> “Maybe now you’ll think twice before you do something like this again,” Hux says to himself, chuckling as he returns the pack to the fridge.
> 
> “Hux?”, Ben calls from the couch, having woken up. “Is that you out there?”
> 
> Saralei runs into the kitchen and jumps up into Hux’s arms. Hux kisses her, then Ben, who’s followed her in.
> 
> “Morning, loves,” Hux says, smiling as he sets Saralei down in a chair. “I was just about to make some breakfast. Anyone up for pancakes?”


End file.
